^^i.^  /^f^ 

^^^ 


[By  Courtesj-  of  the  U.   S.    Cavalry   Association. 


JOURNAL  OF  STEPHEN  WATTS  KEARNY. 

EDITED    BY   VALENTINE   MOTT  'pORTER. 

PART    I. 

THE  COUNCIL  BLUFF— ST.  PETER'S  EXPLORATION  (1820). 

AN    INCIDENT   OF   THE    YELLOWSTONE    EXPEDITION. 

(A  narrative  of  the  first  overland  crossing  by  white  persons 
between  the  upper  Missouri  and  Mississippi  Rivers,  in  an  effort  to 
open  a  route  for  the  passage  of  United  States  troops  between 
"Camp  Missouri,"  later  known  as  "Fort  Atkinson,"  near  the 
present  city  of  Omaha,  and  "Camp  Cold  Water,"  the  predecessor 
of  Fort  Snelling,  near  the  present  cities  of  St.  Paul  and  Minne- 
apolis.) 

EDITORIAL  PREFACE. 

This  journal  of  the  famous  soldier,  Stephen  Watts  Kearny, 
now  printed  for  the  first  time,  has  unusual  interest  in  being 
the  only  known  record  or  account,^  it  is  believed,  of  an  early 
military  exploration  that  was  an  incident  of  the  pioneer 
movement  of  United  States  troops  into  the  great  trans- 
Mississippi  region.  Until  1818  no  effort  had  been  made  to 
establish  army  posts  beyond  the  Mississippi.  Following  the 
acquisition  of  the  Louisiana  Territory  in  1803,  the  Americans 
had  re-garrisoned  a  few  minor  cantonments  evacuated  by 
the  Spanish,^  and  had  planted  a  few  new  posts,  but  practically 

^  The  manuscript  is  the  property  of  the  Missouri  Historical  Society  and 
was  acquired  by  gift  from  the  late  Charles  Kearny,  Esq.,  of  St.  Joseph,  Moi 

^  A  search  of  the  records  on  file  in  the|War  Department  has  resulted  in 
failure  to  find  any  mention  of  this  expedition.  A  bare  reference  to  it  ia 
found  in  Doty's  Journal:  Wis.  Hist.  Colls.,  xiii,  p.  215.  In  the  St.  Louis 
Enquirer,  of  July  25,  1820,  there  is  a  letter  dated  Council  Bluffs,  June  24, 
1820,  containing  this  statement:  ''Captain  Magee,  with  a  small  command, 
is  about  setting  out  to  mark  a  road  from  this  position  to  the  Falls  of 
St.  Anthony." 

^  Although  the  Louisiana  Territory  was  acquired  from  the  French  (1803), 
it  will  be  remembered  that  it  had  been  since  1763  in  the  possession 
of  the  Spanish.  After  the  Treaty  of  St.  Ildefonso  (1800),  which  terminated 
Spain's  interest,  the  French  did  not  resume  possession  of  the  posts. 


2  Journal  of  S.  W.  Kearny. 

all  of  these  were  along  the  middle  and  lower  river.  The  War 
of  1812  coming  on  soon  afterward,  and  having  its  theatre 
east  of  the  river,  delayed  the  time  when  the  military  occupa- 
tion of  the  new  territory  should  begin,  a  necessary  measure 
before  it  could  safely  be  opened  up  for  settlement.  In  that 
war  what  the  western  people  had  most  to  combat  was  not 
the  British  but  their  allies,  the  Indian  savages,  whose  depre- 
dations had  kept  the  settlements  in  constant  dread,  if  not 
in  actual  danger,  and  had  interfered  seriously  with  the 
important  fur  trade,  the  chief  frontier  industry.  Just  as 
soon  as  the  Americans  had  recovered  sufficiently  from  the 
exhaustion  of  the  war  to  consider  the  future,  they  were 
prompted  by  the  budding  spirit  of  nationalism  to  adopt 
a  system  of  measures  for  their  general  security.  Included 
in  these  was  the  erection  of  coast  fortifications  and  a  chain 
of  military  posts  on  the  western  frontier,  beyond  the  Mis- 
sissippi, in  the  populous  Indian  region.  Thus  began,  in 
1818,  the  movement  of  United  States  troops  into  that  vast 
territory,  where  for  many  years  they  were  to  have  their  most 
characteristic  service,  and  where  by  hard  experience  they 
were  to  develop  certain  methods  of  warfare  that  have  come 
finally  to  exert  an  appreciable  influence  on  all  modern  armies. 

The  military  occupation  of  the  north-west  was  undertaken 
in  two  independent  expeditions.  One  had  as  its  destination 
the  head  of  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  near  the  mouth  of 
the  St.  Peter's  (now  the  Minnesota)  River.  The  other 
was  directed  to  ascend  the  Missouri  as  far  as  the  mouth  of 
the  Yellowstone  River.  They  had  as  their  immediate  objects 
the  protection  of  the  northwestern  frontier  against  Indian 
attacks,  the  extension  of  the  great  fur  trade,  and  the  checking 
of  the  influence  of  British  traders  with  the  Indians.* 

The  troops  sent  to  the  upper  Mississippi  consisted  of  the 
greater  part  (about  414  total  strength^)  of  the  Fifth  United 
States    Infantry,    under    command    of    Lieutenant-Colonel 

*  See  statement  of  the  objects  of  the  expedition,  by  Sec.  of  War  John 
C.  Calhoun,  Am.  State  Papers,  "Military  Affairs,"  ii,  p.  33. 
«  Q.  M.  Gen.  Rep.,  ibid.  p.  36. 


The  Council  Bluff— St.  Peter's  Exploration  {1820.)        3 

Henry  Leavenworth.  Leaving  detachments  as  garrisons  at 
Prairie  du  Chien  and  Fort  Armstrong,  the  major  portion  of  the 
command  ascended  the  river  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  St. 
Peter's,  a  Httle  below  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  and  erected 
barracks  on  the  Mendota  side.  In  the  Spring  of  1820,  the 
cantonment  was  so  menaced  by  high  water  that  the  soldiers 
crossed  to  the  opposite  shore  and  chose  a  new  camp-site  which 
they  called  'Tamp  Cold  Water,"  on  account  of  a  spring  that 
gushed  from  a  neighboring  lime-stone  rock.  As  the  general 
location  was  considered  to  possess  great  advantages  for  the 
protection  of  the  trade  of  Americans  and  the  prevention  of 
trade  of  foreigners,  buildings  were  soon  begun  for  a  per- 
manent post.® 

The  troops  sent  up  the  Missouri  River  and  known  as  ' '  The 
Yellow  Stone  Expedition,"  consisted  of  the  Sixth  United  States 
Infantry,  under  command  of  Colonel  Henry  Atkinson,  and  the 
United  States  Rifle  Regiment  (formed  from  the  four  rifle 
regiments  in  existence  prior  to  the  reorganization  of  the  Army), 
making  a  total  strength  of  1126."^  In  1819  this  force  had 
worked  its  way  up  the  river  as  far  as  the  'Council  Bluff, "^ 
on  the  Nebraska  side,  and  there  established  a  post  which  was 
named  ''Camp  Missouri."^   Secretary  of  War  Calhoun,  in  a 

*  The  permanent  post  begun  by  Col.  Leavenworth  was  first  named 
"Fort  St.  Anthony."  Before  it  was  finished  his  transfer  to  the  6th  Inf. 
caused  his  removal  to  another  station.  The  construction  was  taken  up 
and  completed  by  Col.  Josiah  Snelling.  The  excellence  of  the  work  so 
impressed  Gen.  Winfield  Scott,  when  he  visited  the  post,  that  on  his  recom- 
mendation the  name  was  changed  in  1824  to  "Fort  SnelUng,"  by  which 
it  is  now  known.  ("Fort  Snelling  From  Its  Foundation  to  the  Present 
Time":  Gen.  Richard  W.  Johnson,  Minn.  Hist.  Colls.,  viii,  p.  21.  See  also 
"Occurrences  in  and  Around  Fort  SnelUng"  (1819-1840),  t6wi.,  ii-iii,p.21.) 

^  Q.  M.  Gen.  Rep.,  "Military  Affairs,"  Am.  State  Papers,  ii,  p.  35. 

*  The  "Council  Bluff,"  so  called  by  Lewis  and  Clark,  on  account  of  the 
council  of  Otoe  and  Missouri  Indians  held  there  with  them  on  Aug.  3,  1804, 
was  a  steep  bank  rising  abruptly  from  the  river  to  a  height  of  about  150 
feet.  {Long's  Expedition:  James,  London  Ed.,  p.  139.)  The  place  is 
not  to  be  confused  with  the  city  of  similar  name  that  grew  up  on  the  Iowa 
side. 

"  "Camp  Missouri"  after  1821  and  till  its  abandonment  in  1827  was 
known  as  ' '  Fort  Atkinson,"  in  honor  of  Colonel  Atkinson.  On  the  old  site 
is  now  Fort  Calhoun,  a  town  in  Washington  Co.,  Neb.,  not  far  from  Omaha. 
("Old  Fort  Atkinson":  W.  H.  Filers,  Neb.  Hist.  Soc.  Rep.,  iv,  p.  18.) 


4  Journal  of  S.  W.  Kearny. 

letter^**  to  the  Chairman  of  the  House  Committee  on  Indian 
Affairs,  had  this  to  say  about  the  location: 

"The  position  at  Council  Bluffs  is  a  very  important  one,  and  the 
post  will  consequently  be  rendered  strong,  and  will  be  occupied  by  a 
sufficient  garrison.  It  is  about  half  way  between  St.  Louis  and  the 
Mandan"  Village,  and  is  at  that  point  on  the  Missouri  which  approaches 
the  nearest  to  the  post  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Peter's,  with  which  in 
the  event  of  hostilities  it  may  cooperate.  It  is,  besides,  not  more 
than  180  miles  in  advance  of  our  settlements  on  the  Missouri  and  is  in 
the  center  of  the  most  powerful  tribes  and  the  most  numerous  Indian 
population  west  of  the  Mississippi.  It  is  beUeved  to  be  the  best  posi- 
tion on  the  Missouri  to  cover  our  flourishing  settlements  in  that  quar- 
ter and  ought,  if  it  were  wholly  imconnected  with  other  objects,  to  be 
estabhshed  for  that  purpose  alone." 

The  feasibiUty  of  cooperation  between  the  troops  at 
Council  Bluff  (Camp  Missouri)  and  at  the  mouth  of  the  St. 
Peter's,  on  the  Mississippi,  was  of  course  dependent  upon  a 
practicable  overland  route  between  the  two  posts,  a  distance  of 
not  over  three  hundred  miles  as  the  crow  flies,  since  the  water 
route,  by  way  of  the  two  great  rivers,  meant  a  laborious  trip 
of  at  least  twelve  hundred  miles.    Steamboat^^  transportation 

»°  "Military  Affairs,"  Am.  State  Papers,  ii,  p.  33.  See  also  Pres.  Mon- 
roe's 2d  Annual  Message,  Nov.  16,  1818,  and  his  3d  An.  Message,  Dec.  7, 

1819. 

"  Mandan  Village  was  the  habitation  of  the  Mandan  Indians,  situated 
about  60  miles  above  the  present  site  of  Bismarck,  N.  D.,  and  near  the  mouth 
of  Knife  River. 

"  Gen.  Atkinson's  troops,  comprising  the  Yellowstone  or  Missouri  River 
Expedition  (being  known  under  both  names),  had  started  from  St.  Louis 
with  five  steamboats,  the  Jefferson,  Expedition,  Johnson,  Calhoun,  and 
Exchange.  There  is  no  record  of  the  last  two  ever  entering  the  Missouri 
River.  The  Jefferson  gave  out  and  abandoned  the  trip  30  miles  below 
Franklin,  Mo.  The  Expedition  and  Johnson  wintered  at  Cow  Island,  a 
little  above  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas,  and  returned  to  St.  Louis  the  follow- 
ing spring.  Gen.  Atkinson  invented  a  paddle  wheel  device  worked  by  hand 
that  was  used  thereafter.  The  failure  of  the  steamboats  was  a  material 
factor  in  causing  the  troops  to  winter  at  Council  Bluff  and  abandon  the 
project  of  ascending  further  up  the  river.  (Chittenden:  "American  Fur 
Trade,"  ii,  p.  570.)  Long's  engineering  party,  undeterred  by  the  expe- 
rience of  the  military  expedition,  made  a  trip  up  the  Missouri  in  their 
specially  built  steamboat,  the  Western  Engineer.  The  boat  occasionally 
made  as  much  as  three  miles  an  hour,  but  the  machinery  broke  down  so 
often  that  it  was  commonly  laid  up  for  repairs.  (See  Long's  Expedition: 
James,  Reprinted  in  Thwaites*  Early  Western  Travels,  xiv,  39-199.) 
Atkinson's  troops  in  1825  did  ascend  the  river  to  its  headwaters.  See 
infra,  Ed.  Preface. 


The  Council  Bluff— St.  Peter's  Exploration  {1820.)       5 

was  then  in  its  infancy  and  was  regarded  with  suspicion. 
Hand  power,  on  the  western  rivers,  was  thought  to  be  better 
in  the  long  run,  just  as  in  modern  days,  the  first  automobiles 
on  account  of  their  frequent  breakdowns  were  thought  to  be 
less  reliable  than  horses  for  long  distances. 

So  important,  then,  was  the  opening  up  of  an  overland 
route  between  the  two  posts,  that  the  Army  authorities  made 
it  one  of  four  specific  undertakings  for  the  troops  in  the 
Missouri  and  Mississippi  expeditions  for  the  year  1820,  as  we 
learn  from  a  letter  of  the  Quartermaster  General  to  Secretary 
Calhoun,  appended  to  a  report  addressed  to  the  House  Com- 
mittee on  Military  Affairs/^ 

From  the  opening  statement  in  Kearny's  journal  it  ap- 
pears that  the  task  was  entrusted  to  Captain  Magee,  of  the 
Rifle  Regiment,  Lieutenant  Talcott,  of  the  Engineers,  and 
fifteen  soldiers.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Willoughby  Morgan,  of 
the  Rifle  Regiment,  Captain  Kearny,  of  the  Second  Infantry, 
and  two  junior  officers  accompanied  the  party.  Four  serv- 
ants, an  Indian  guide,  his  wife  and  papoose,  eight  mules  and 
seven  horses  completed  the  outfit.  The  journey  from  post 
to  post  took  twenty-three  days,  and  during  the  latter  part 
of  it  the  explorers  had  but  vague  notion  of  their  where- 
abouts. Their  arrival  at  Camp  Cold  Water,  the  destination, 
produced  a  great  sensation  in  that  garrison,  inasmuch  as  they 
were  the  first  white  persons  to  cross  from  the  Missouri  to  the 
Mississippi  River  at  such  distance  above  the  confluence. 

The  route  traversed,  in  Kearny's  estimation,  was  imprac- 
ticable for  any  but  small  parties.  The  want  of  timber,  the 
scarcity  of  water,  and  the  rugged  character  of  the  hills  made 
the  region  almost  impassable,  and,  as  he  thought,  would  for- 
ever prevent  it  from  supporting  more  than  a  thinly  scattered 
population.  Yet  in  a  comparatively  short  stretch  of  time 
this  very  region  opened  to  considerable  settlement,  and  now 
embraces  northern  Iowa  and  southeastern  Minnesota. 

The  members  of  the  party  enjoyed  a  few  days'  entertain- 

"  "Military  Affairs,"  Am.  State  Papers,  ii,  p.  32,  No.  4.  See  also  letter 
of  Calhoun,  ibid.,  p.  33,  and  Pres.  Monroe's  4th  An.  Message,  Nov,  14, 1820. 


6  Journal  of  S.  W.  Kearny. 

ment  at  the  post,  as  guests  of  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Leavenworth, 
and  made  a  visit  to  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  before  they 
began  their  return  by  boat  down  the  Mississippi.  Traveling 
in  flat-boats,  they  made  stops  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  Fort  Arm- 
strong, and  other  interesting  points,  the  account  ending  with 
the  arrival  at  St.  Louis. 

Stephen  Watts  Kearny,  the  writer  of  the  journal,  was  born 
in  1794,  at  Newark,  N.  J.,  and  lived  there  some  years.  He 
was  a  student  at  King's  College  (now  Columbia)  in  New  York 
City.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  War  of  1812,  he  was  com- 
missioned first  heutenant  in  the  Thirteenth  United  States 
Infantry,  and  served  under  Captain  John  E.  Wool.  Captured 
after  the  Battle  of  Queenstown,  he  was  soon  exchanged.  He 
offered  to  serve  at  the  head  of  a  marine  force  in  Chauncy's 
fleet  on  Lake  Erie,  but  his  offer  was  upt  accepted.  He  was 
made  captain,  April  1,  1813.  After  the  war  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Second  Infantry,  with  headquarters  first  at 
Sackett's  Harbor,  and  later  at  Plattsburg.  Probably  he 
accompanied  the  Sixth  Infantry,  under  Colonel  Atkinson, 
when  that  regiment  went  west  to  form  part  of  the  Yellowstone 
Expedition,  for  in  1820,  when  he  began  this  journal,  he  was 
at  Council  Bluff,  where  a  camp  had  been  established  by  that 
command  in  the  Spring  of  that  year.  In  1821  he  went  to  the 
Third  Infantry,  with  station  at  Detroit,  but  soon  afterward 
transferred  to  the  First  Infantry,  which  had  headquarters  at 
Baton  Rouge.  In  1823  he  was  bre vetted  major  for  ten  years' 
faithful  service  in  one  grade.  He  went  with  General  Atkinson, 
in  1825,  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Missouri  in  ''The  Yellow 
Stone  Expedition"  ^*  which  had  been  begun  and  interrupted 
in  1819.  (See  note  12.)  He  received  his  actual  majority  in 
May,  1829.  He  became  Ueutenant-colonel  of  the  First  Dra- 
goons on  March  4,  1833,  and  colonel,  July  4,  1836.  Soon 
after  the  outbreak  of  the  Mexican  War  he  was  made  brigadier- 
general,  June  30,  1846,  and  put  in  charge  of  the  ''Army  of 

"  The  journals  of  that  expedition,  by  Keamy,  Atkinson,  and  Kennerly, 
will  be  published  in  later  numbers  of  the  Missouri  Historical  Society  Col- 
lections. 


The  Council  Bluff— St.  Peter's  Exploration  (1820.)       7 

the  West/'  which  marched  to  New  Mexico,  and  took  posses- 
sion of  that  territory.  Leaving  New  Mexico  in  charge  of 
Colonel  Doniphan,  of  the  Missouri  Volunteers,  he  pushed  on 
to  California  to  conduct  a  campaign  there.  His  gallant  and 
meritorious  conduct  on  the.  Pacific  coast,  especially  at  the 
Battle  of  San  Pasqual,  December  6,  1846,  when  he  was  twice 
wounded,  won  him  a  major-generalship.  From  March  to 
June,  1847,  he  was  Governor  of  California.  Then  he  went  to 
join  the  army  in  Mexico,  and  became  military  and  civil 
governor  of  Vera  Cruz,  March,  1848,  and  of  the  City  of 
Mexico'  in  the  following  May.  He  died  October  31,  1848,^^ 
at  St.  Louis.  The  funeral  was  the  most  imposing  ever  seen 
in  this  city  up  to  that  time.  The  church  service  was  held 
at  St.  George's,  northwest  corner  of  Locust  and  Seventh 
Streets,  and  the  interment  was  in  the  Episcopal  Cemetery. 


THE  JOURNAL. 

Sunday,  July  2d,  1820— bX  7  a.  m.  left  Council  Bluffs," 
for  the  St.  Peters,^^  our  party  consisting  of  Lieut  Col  Morgan,^^ 

"  Appleton's  Cyc.  Am.  Biog.,  iii,  p.  496,  Billon's  Annals  of  St.  Louis, 
and  statement  of  his  ynrddaughter,  Mrs.  Western  Bascome,  of  St. 
Louis. 

^^  The  original ' '  Council  Bluff, "  on  the  Nebraska  side,  the  scene  of  Lewis 
and  Clark's  council  with  the  Indians  (see  foot-note,  8).  The  military- 
post  there  at  the  time  this  journal  was  written  was  known  as  "Camp  Mis- 
souri." 

"  "St.  Peters,"  now  the  Minnesota,  River.  The  destination  of  the  party 
was  the  mihtary  post  on  the  Mississippi  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Peter's 
(see  foot-note,  6). 

'^  WiLLOuGHBY  MoRGAN,  born  in  Virginia.  Captain  12th  Infantry, 
25  March,  1812;  Major,  26  June,  1813;  retained  17  May,  1815,  as  Captain  in 
the  Rifle  Regiment  with  brevet  of  Major  from  26  June,  1813;  Major,  8 
March,  1817;  Lt.  Colonel,  10  Nov.,  1818;  transferred  to  6th  Infantry,  1 
June,  1821,  to  5th  Infantry,  1  Oct.,  1821,  to  3rd  Infantry,  31  Jan.,  1829; 
Colonel,  1st  Infantry,  23  April,  1830;  brevet  Colonel,  10  Nov.,  1828,  for  ten 
years'  faithful  service  in  one  grade;  died,  4  April,  1832.  (See  Heitman: 
Hist.  Reg.  &  Die.  U.  S.  Army.) 


8  Journal  of  S.  W.  Kearny. 

myself,  Capt.  Magee/**  Lieuts.  Pentland'"  &  Talcot''  with  15 
soldiers,  4  servants,  an  Indian  Guide,  his  wife  &  papoose, 
with  8  mules  &  7  horses — Capt.  Magee  with  the  15  soldiers 
assisted  by  Lieut.  Talcot  of  the  engineers,  compose  an  ex- 
ploring party  to  discover  a  route,  across  country,  between 
the  2  Posts. 

Reached  Lisa's^^  about  9  &  sent  a  boat  with  our  mules  & 
horses,  &  on  her  return  followed  her  previous  track:  viz 
descended  the  Missouri  to  the  Bowyer^  &  landed  on  the 
eastern  side  of  it,  a  mile  from  its  mouth;  a  strong  southerly 
wind  rendered  it  difficult  to  manage  our  boat,  encamped 
for  the  night;  until  2  P.  M.  the  day  was  stormy,  when  it  cleared 
away  cool  &  pleasant. 

July  3d. — 

during  last  night  a  severe  storm  of  rain  Thunder  &  Light- 

"  Matthew  J.  Magee,  bom  in  Pennsylvania.  Captain  Pittsburgh  Blues, 
Pennsylvania  Volunteers-,  from  Aug.,  1812,  to  Dec,  1813;  Captain,  4th  U.  S. 
Rifle  Regiment,  17  March,  1814;  honorably  discharged,  15  June,  1815; 
reinstated,  1  Jan.,  1816,  as  1st  Lieutenant  of  ordnance  with  brevet  of  Cap- 
tain from  17  March,  1814;  Captain,  1  May,  1816,  to  rank  from  10  Feb., 
1815;  transferred  to  the  Rifle  Re^ment,  11  Sept.,  1818,  to  6th  Infantry  1 
June,  1821,  to  5th  Infantry,  3  Oct.,  1821;  died  29  June,  1824. 

^°  Charles  Pentland,  bom  in  Pennsylvania.     Ensign,  4th  U.  S.  Rifles, 

16  Sept.,  1814;  3rd  Lieut.,  19  Sept.,  1814;  retained  in  the  Rifle  Regiment, 

17  May,  1815;  2d  Lieut.,  9  Oct.,  1817;  1st  Lieut.,  31  July,  1818;  Regi- 
mental Adjutant,  Feb.,  1818,  to  April,  1821;  transferred  to  6th  Infantry,  1 
June,  1821;  Regimental  Adjutant,  1  June,  1821,  to  21  July,  1823;  Captain, 

21  July,  1823;  dismissed  15  Feb.,  1826. 

"  Andrew  Talcott,  bom  in  Connecticut  and  appointed  from  there  Cadet 
at  the  Military  Academy,  14  March,  1815;  brevet  2d  Lieut,  of  Engineers, 
24  July,  1818;  2d  Lieut.,  14  Aug.,  1818;  1st  Lieut.,  1  Oct.,  1820;  brevet 
Captain,  1  Oct.,  1830,  for  ten  years'  faithful  service  in  one  grade;  Captain, 

22  Dec,  1830;  resigned  21  Sept.,  1836;  (died  22  April,  1883.) 

'^  Manuel  Lisa,  one  of  the  most  active  persons  engaged  in  the  fur  trade. 
Bom  of  Spanish  parentage  in  New  Orleans,  Sept.  8,  1772,  he  moved  in 
1799  to  St.  Louis,  engaged  in  the  fur  trade  and  acquired  great  influence  over 
the  Indians  of  the  upper  Missouri.  He  organized  the  highly  successful 
St.  Louis,  Missouri,  Fur  Company  and  built  near  the  present  site  of  Omaha 
a  trading  post  that  became  known  as  "Fort  Lisa."  He  died  in  St.  Louis 
Aug.  12,  1820.  (A  special  article  on  Manuel  Lisa  is  in  preparation  for  a 
later  number  of  the  Collections.) 

^  "Bowyer,"  now  usually  spelt  "Beyer." 


The  Council  Bluff— St.  Peters  Exploration  {1820.)       9 

ning,  about  8  A  .M.  it  subsided,  when  we  ordered  the  boat  to 
Camp  which  had  yesterday  ferried  us  to  this  place  &  about 
10  left  our  encampment;  passed  thro'  a  low  bottom,  having 
on  our  left  a  high  broken  bluff  &  on  the  left  a  ravine  &  beyond 
that  gently  swelling  hills,  well  timbered — crossed  the  ravine 
at  1  P.  M.  &  halted  to  feed,  one  of  our  party  shot  a  deer; 
from  here  ascended  a  hill  &  continued  on  a  high  dividing 
ridge,  having  on  both  sides  high  broken  hills;  no  timber — 
halted,  near  a  ravine,  made  today  as  we  suppose  15  miles. 
Our  gen'l  course  has  been  about  north,  the  wind  is  from 
that  quarter  &  the  day  has  been  cool  and  pleasant. 

July  4ith. 

Left  our  camp  shortly  after  6  A.  M.,  &  traveled  over  rolling 
prairies,  but  indifferently  watered,  &  reached  the  Bowyer  at 
1  P.M.  a  distance  of  12  miles — from  hence  proceeding  in  a  par- 
alel  direction  to  the  river,  crossed  two  ravines  (with  water) 
&  reached  a  third  where  we  encamped — our  course  today 
has  been  a  little  E  of  North — made  20  miles.  The  Bowyer 
is  but  thinly  clothed  with  wood,  tho'  frequently  the  highlands 
in  the  rear  are  well  covered.  The  day  cool  &  pleasant,  & 
wind  North  East.  This  day  being  the  anniversary  of  our 
Independence,  we  celebrated  it,  to  the  extent  of  our  means; 
an  extra  gill  of  whiskey  was  issued  to  each  man,  &  we  made 
our  dinner  on  pork  &  biscuit  &  drank  to  the  memory  of  our 
forefathers  in  a  mint  julwp.  Lieut.  Talcot  took  an  observa- 
tion &  found  our  camp  to  be  41  °  49 J' — 

July  5th. 

On  awakening  this  morning,  found  my  blankets  as  wet  as 
if  they  had  been  thrown  into  the  river.  I  have  frequently 
had  occasion  to  remark  the  excessive  dews  that  fall  in  this 
section  of  the  country.  Crossed  the  ravine,  &  at  7  A.M.,  our 
party  was  again  on  its  march ;  followed  the  river  course,  a  little 
E.  of  North  and  being  in  the  advance  of  the  party,  rode  to 
the  summit  of  the  Bluff  on  our  right  &  on  a  broken  &  barren 
spot  was  attacked  by  a  swarm  of  small  wasps,  with  yellow 
wings  &  very  small  heads  &  not  being  disposed  to  contest  the 


10  Journal  of  S.  W.  Kearny. 

point,  for  the  dominion  of  that  tract,  of  which  they  were  the 
previous  Inhabitants,  I  made  a  rapid  retreat,  not  however 
until  I  was  severely  stung  by  some  of  the  most  enraged. — 
crossed  the  Bowyer  at  1  P.M.  ten  miles  from  last  night's 
camp,  &  45  from  the  mouth ;  the  water  here  being  3  foot  deep — 
from  this  the  Western  shore  of  the  river  assumed  the  charac- 
ter the  eastern  had  in  the  rear,  viz  a  bottom,  extending  half 
a  mile  from  the  water  &  hills  gently  rising  from  it;  a  few  miles 
brought  us  to  a  ravine,  with  a  good  spring  &  after  crossing  it, 
took  a  North  course,  &  passed  over  a  continuation  of  very 
high,  broken  hills,  with  no  timber,  &  but  indifferent  soil; 
reached  a  small  creek,  where  we  encamped,  with  wood  enough 
to  make  us  a  fire  &  supply  our  other  wants;  it  empties  into 
the  Bowyer,  about  a  half  mile  from  us;  made  today  21  miles; 
weather  cool,  clear  &  pleasant. 

July  6th. 

Started  at  7  A.M.— 

Last  night  we  found  quite  cool,  &  three  blankets,  for  a 
covering,  were  by  no  means  uncomfortable.  The  mosquitoes, 
however,  were  very  troublesome  &  tho'  I  am  benefitted  by 
Lieut.  Talcot's  mosquito  net,  we  had  not  sufficiently  secured 
it  to  prevent  the  entrance  of  these  annoying  little  insects — 

Crossed  the  creek,  which  we  called  Morgan's'^  Creek,  &  were 
engaged  till  11  A.M.  in  continually  de-  &  ascending  high  hills, 
with  no  indication  of  timber,  or  of  a  single  tree,  when  we 
halted  on  a  ravine  with  a  little  water  for  our  dinner,  having 
previously  crossed  two  others,  of  a  similar  character — at 
1  P.M.,  recommenced  our  march,  &  after  proceeding  a  few 
miles,  saw  from  the  summit  of  a  high  hill  some  timber,  to 
the  West,  at  however,  a  very  great  distance;  from  this  point 
the  hills  commence  running  in  a  different  direction,  viz  N. 
cfc  *S  &  we  find  the  traveling  somewhat  easier,  as  we  are  enabled 
to  take  advantage  of  the  ridges — halted  at  sunset,  near  a  small 
drain  of  water,  but  without  wood,  having  made  22  miles  & 
over  a  country,  tho'  without  timber,  yet  pretty  well  watered 
by  small  drains — 

^*  In  honor  of  the  senior  officer  accompanying  the  expedition. 


The  Council  Bluff— St.  Peter's  Exploration  {1820.)      11 

The  dull  monotony  of  traveling  over  the  Prairies  is  occasion- 
ally interrupted  by  the  feats  of  Horsemanship  displayed  by 
our  squaw,  &  the  affection  &  gallantry  shewn  toward  her  & 
her  Papoose  (an  infant  of  but  Four  months  old)  by  the  Indian 
Guide. 

Four  of  our  party  went  in  pursuit  of  a  gang  of  elk  which  we 
observed,  a  mile  from  our  camp,  but  returned  unsuccessful, 
about  9  P.M. 

July  7  th. 

In  consequence  of  having  no  timber,  &  being  desirous  of 
procuring  some,  started  at  4  A.M.  &  continued  our  course 
North,  for  10  miles,  when  we  halted  on  a  ravine  for  break- 
fast. The  country  is  gradually  assuming  a  more  level  ap- 
pearance &  many  elk  are  seen,  to  the  right  &  left  of  us,  but 
at  too  great  a  distance  to  pursue — we  have  headed  the  Head 
waters  of  the  Soldier  river,  which  is  laid  down  on  the  maps 
incorrectly;  inasmuch  as  it  is  made  to  appear  a  very  con- 
siderable stream,  &  having  its  source  near  the  Racoon  branch, 
of  the  Des  Moines ;  proceeded  on  our  route ;  saw  many  gangs  of 
buck  elks,  &  some  of  our  party  fired  at  them,  but  at  too  great 
distance  to  kill  any;  shot  a  badger,  which  was  given  to  the 
Guide,  who  has  been  all  day  very  sick,  in  consequence  of  liv- 
ing on  salt  provisions,  which  he  is  unaccustomed  to — halted 
at  6  P.M.,  on  a  ravine,  with  no  timber,  the  want  of  which  we 
begin  to  feel — made  today  21  miles. 

July  Sth. 

During  last  night  we  experienced  a  severe  storm  of  rain, 
accompanied  by  Thunder  &  Lightning,  which  from  our  ex- 
posed situation,  in  the  open  Prairie,  we  find  by  no  means 
agreeable. 

Started,  at  5  A.M.  at  which  time  it  cleared  away  &  ten 
miles  from  camp,  left  the  Party  &  the  route  they  were  pursu- 
ing, &  rode  a  mile  to  the  Eastward  &  saw  a  mound  which  had 
been  erected  seven  years  since  over  the  remains  of  an  Indian 


12  Journal  of  S.  W,  Kearny. 

chief,  of  the  Sioux  Nation;  this  mound  is  circular,  the  diameter 
of  which  is  12  feet,  elevation  6,  &  having  a  pole  of  12  feet 
standing  in  the  centre — 'Tis  on  a  high  hill  which  overlooks 
a  vast  extent  of  country —  About  noon,  observed  a  large 
Bull  buffaloe,  which  a  few  of  us  pursued — Having  the  fleetest 
horse,  I  rode  in  front,  &  shot  three  pistol  balls  into  him,  not 
more  than  at  10  feet  distance,  two  more  balls  were  afterward 
fired  into  him,  when  he  fell;  we  chased  him  about  2  miles;  he 
is  very  large,  &  would  weigh  a  thousand  weight,  proceded  & 
reached  a  fine  stream,  20  yards  wide,  which  our  guide  says  is 
the  Leve  Grave,  a  branch  of  the  Sioux,  &  so  called  from  a 
trader  of  that  name  having  first  traded  with  the  Indians  on 
this  river;  sent  back  four  mules  to  bring  up  the  buffaloe, 
which  some  men  have  been  left  to  butcher,  &  having  got 
some  timber,  determined  to  remain  here,  'til  tomorrow, 
having  made  16  miles,  &  after  traveling  59,  without  the  use 
of  wood,  and  with  the  exception  of  a  single  hill,  without 
sight  of  any — we  welcomed  the  fire  as  an  old  acquaintance  & 
soon  banqueted  upon  a  buffaloe  feast,  the  meat  of  which  is 
far  preferable  to  our  common  beef — 

Near  the  banks  of  this  river,  the  country  is  much  broken — 
high  steep  hills,  with  scattered  stones,  the  last  of  which  we 
have  seen  little  or  nothing  of  during  our  journey. 
N.B.  The  above  Indian  was  named  Shaton  de  Ton  (Red 
Hawk), 2^  was  a  powerful  chief  of  the  Sissetons^®  (a  band  of  the 
Sioux)  &  was  the  first  that  visited  the  Prophet  (about  the 
time  of  the  Declaration  of  War)  on  the  Wabash,  from  his  tribe 
&  he  excited  his  whole  nation  to  take  up  arms  against  the 
Americans. 

We  saw  today  many  elk  in  the  Prairie,  but  were  unable  to 
approach  near  enough  to  shoot  any — 

^  Red  Hawk  was  one  of  the  chiefs  in  the  large  party  of  Sioux,  allies  of 
the  British,  that  were  with  Gen.  Proctor  and  Col.  Robert  Dickson  in  1813  in 
the  attack  on  Fort  Stephenson,  at  Lower  Sandusky,  which  was  gallantly 
defended  by  Major  George  Croghan  (Grignon's  Recollections,  3  Wis.  Hist. 
Collections,  p.  270.) 

^  SissETONS  [Sussi tongs  or  Sissitonwans],  a  band  of  the  Sioux  numbering 
according  to  Gen.  Zebulon  Pike  about  2160  at  the  time  of  his  expedition, 
1805-7. 


The  Council  Bluff—St.  Peter's  Exploration  {1820.)      13 

July  9th.    Sunday — 

The  squaw  this  morning  quite  sick,  in  consequence  of 
eating  too  greedily  of  the  Buffaloe. 

We  were  detained  until  about  4  P.M.,  in  order  to  jerk  our 
fresh  meat,  &  during  which  time  Lieut.  Talcot  took  an  obser- 
vation, &  found  our  Camp  to  be  in  Lat.  42°58'  &  we  conclude 
we  have  underrated  the  distance  we  have  traveled  about  10 
miles —  When  about  to  start,  found  the  river  had  risen  two 
or  three  feet,  &  therefore  we  determined  to  travel  round  the 
bend,  &  not  cross  it,  tho'  our  distance  may  probably  be 
lengthened  5  or  6  miles — crossed  over  some  high  hills,  & 
reached  a  handsome  stream  of  water  quite  deep  &  ten  yards 
wide,  emptying  into  the  Leve  Grave,  over  which  we  felled  some 
trees,  on  which  our  baggage  was  crossed,  &  having  swam  our 
horses  and  mules,  encamped  on  a  narrow  point,  surrounded  by 
high  hills  &  on  the  creek,  which  we  called  Mary's  Stream — 
having  made  about  4  miles. 

July  10th. 

During  last  night,  we  had  some  rain,  with  Thunder  & 
Lightning;  the  mosquitoes  we  found  so  excessively  annoying 
as  almost  to  exhaust  all  our  patience. 

Left  camp,  at  6  A.M.,  passed  over  some  high  hills,  well 
covered  with  granite  and  limestone,  &  the  scattered  groves 
of  box  alder  on  the  Leve  Grave  give  to  the  scenery  a  hand- 
some effect — saw  a  gang  of  about  200  she  elks,  but  they  were 
too  much  alarmed,  at  our  appearance,  to  suffer  us  to  approach 
nearer  than  400  yards  to  them — at  this  season  of  the  year 
the  males  &  females  run  separately,  &  the  former  shew,  by 
far,  much  more  curiosity,  for  they  frequently  come  within  150 
yards,  to  discover  what  we  are;  saw  some  wolves  &  sand 
cranes,  and  crossed  two  or  three  of  the  Sioux  trails,  none, 
however,  lately  traveled;  reached  a  fine  sulphur  spring, 
strongly  impregnated,  &  halted  for  our  dinner —  The  morn- 
ing very  warm  &  sultry;  but  a  little  rain  about  11  A.  M.  cleared 
the  atmosphere  when  it  was  cool  and  pleasant. 

At  4  P.M.  when  about  to  proceed  the  wind  hauled  round 
from  the  S-East  to  the  N.West  &  it  commenced  raining,  when 


14  Journal  of  S.  W.  Kearny. 

we  determined  to  pitch  our  camp  &  remain  here  for  the  night, 
having  made  today  15  miles  &  in  consequence  of  the  Guide's 
wish  not  to  cross  the  river^  &  it  holding  here  nearly  a  S.East 
course,  we  were  compelled  to  steer  accordingly,  about  sun 
down  it  cleared  away,  when  the  most  perfect  and  beautiful 
rainbow,  that  I  had  ever  beheld,  presented  itself  to  our  view. 

July  11th. 

During  last  night,  we  experienced  a  very  hard  rain,  which 
subsided  at  day  break,  &  at  8  A.M.  we  left  our  encampment, 
our  course  N.East,  &  we  passed  over  some  level  Prairies  of 
considerable  extent  on  the  high  lands,  saw  small  scattering 
stones  of  Limestone,  granite  &  Quartz — discovered  a  large 
drove  of  Buffaloe  to  our  left,  probably  5  thousand,  but  not 
being  in  want  of  provisions;  They  being  3  or  4  miles  out  of 
our  course,  and  the  clouds  having  indicated  a  storm,  we 
pursued  our  course,  but  soon  fell  upon  a  drove  of  about  100, 
to  which  several  of  us  gave  chase,  &  out  of  which  a  yearling 
was  obtained,  after  a  half  mile  chase; — after  being  butchered, 
he  was  mounted  on  one  of  our  horses,  and  with  our  prize  we 
proceded  and  overtook  the  main  party,  at  Elk  Lake,  where 
we  encamped,  for  the  night,  having  made  17  miles. — 

The  guide  today  gave  me  what  he  called  Pome  De  Prairie 
(Prairie  apple)  which  he  found  &  which  he  says  the  Indians 
are  very  fond  of — I  ate  of  it;  its  taste  resembling  that  of  a 
Buckeye  nut;  its  shape  a  Pear,  &  the  color  being  whitish. 

Elk  Lake,  nearly  circular,  &  the  circumference  being  about 
4  miles,  is  of  handsome  clear  water,  &  derives  its  name  from 
the  circumstances  of  a  Party  of  Indians  having  driven  a  large 
gang  of  Elk,  in  the  winter  season,  on  the  ice,  when  their 
weight  broke  it,  &  they  thus  fell  a  sacrifice  to  their  crafty 
pursuers ;  its  banks  are  gently  sloping  and  covered  with  sand 
&  pebbles;  &  a  thin  growth  of  timber,  with  the  reflection  of 
the  Sun  on  the  water,  &  the  knowledge  of  our  being  so  far 
separated  from  our  friends,  &  civilized  society,  irresistibly  en- 
force upon  us  an  impression  of  gloomy  beauty — From  this 
Lake  is  an  outlet  which  leads  to  the  Leve  Grave. 


The  Council  Bluff— St.  Peter's  Exploration  {1820.)      15 

Some  of  our  party  killed,  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  a  Fisher, 
who,  however,  did  not  give  up  his  life  without  a  struggle, 
nor  without  shewing  much  fierceness  of  disposition. 

Saw  in  the  Prairie  a  Missouri  Fox,  a  beautiful  animal,  & 
whose  fur  is  much  celebrated  for  its  softness,   &c. 

By  Lieut.  Talcot's  observation,  our  camp  on  Elk  Lake  is 
in  Lat.  43°  ir  3" 

July  12th. 

Left  camp  at  6  A.M.,  &  after  holding  a  N.East  course  for 
about  10  miles,  over  Prairies  occasionally  level,  &  then  rolling, 
reached  the  river  Des  Moines"  (having  headed  the  Racoon 
branch  of  it)  over  which  without  much  difficulty  we  found  a 
fording  place,  &  crossed — The  river  is  handsomely  covered 
with  timber,  &  its  waters  clean  &  bottom  sandy.  About  ten 
leagues  to  the  N.West  of  our  crossing  place  is  Spirit  Lake, 
at  the  Head  of  Sioux  river,  respecting  which  the  Indians 
have  a  curious  tradition;  viz  that  the  Great  Spirit  resides  in 
this  Lake,  &  that  nothing  ever  leaves  it  which  once  enters  it; 
our  Indian  Guide  informs  me  that  he  does  not  give  credit  to 
this  story  tho'  he  believes  that  a  monster  with  horns  lives 
here  &  the  circumstances  of  a  whirlpool  being  in  the  center, 
afford  the  foundation  for  his  nation's  story. 

After  leaving  the  Des  Moines  &  traveling  3  miles,  reached 
a  Lake,  a  mile  in  circumference,  where  we  halted  for  our  din- 
ner; &  after  obtaining  which  proceded  &  traveled  over  a 
Prairie,  for  about  10  miles,  a  great  part  of  which  is  low,  wet, 
&  marshy,  &  having  made  today  23  miles  halted  on  the  Little 
Blue  Earth  River,  for  the  night. 

The  wind  today  has  been  blowing  from  the  N.West  &  cool, 
raw  &  blustering. 

July  13th. 

At  7  A.M.,  crossed  the  river  (water  a  foot  deep)  &  which 
our  Guide  now  calls  Point  Coupee,  &  adds  that  it  empties 
into  the  Blue  Earth  River — ascended  high  Prairies — Passed 

'^  Probably  the  west  fork  of  the  Des  Moines. 


16  Journal  of  S.  W.  Kearny. 

by  many  large  granite  &  other  stones,  halted  for  our  dinner, 
in  an  open  Prairie  near  a  marsh,  from  which  we  obtained  some 
water — When  about  to  proceed,  saw  a  drove  of  100  Buffaloe 
passing  from  N.  to  South  a  half  mile  in  our  rear.  In  the 
afternoon  crossed  many  of  their  trails,  &  continuing  our 
course  nearly  East,  reached  at  Sun  down  an  old  bed  of  a  river, 
with  high  banks,  about  a  Quarter  or  half  a  mile  wide,  which 
with  a  little  difficulty  we  crossed;  the  water  &  mire  being  oc- 
casionally helly  deep,  to  our  horses  and  mules;  saw  another 
drove  of  Buffaloe,  which  some  of  the  party  fired  at,  but  with- 
out success.  Reached  at  dark  a  small  stream,  which  the 
Guide  says  is  the  same  we  slept  on  last  night,  when  we  en- 
camped, having  traveled  today  22  miles,  without  seeing  the 
least  indication  of  timber,  without  finding  water,  excepting 
in  the  marshes,  &  it  being  over  the  high  dividing  ridge,  which 
separate  the  Head  waters  of  the  streams  that  flow  into  the 
Missouri  from  those  that  empty  into  the  Mississippi. 

For  an  hour  or  two,  after  our  reaching  the  camp,  we  found 
the  mosquitoes  so  troublesome  as  almost  to  prevent  our  doing 
anything;  &  But  few  persons,  who  have  not  felt  the  incon- 
venience attending  a  visit  from  them  would  willingly  assent 
to  a  relation  of  them. 

The  day  was  cool  &  pleasant,  wind  from  the  North,  & 
the  night  quite  cold — 

July  I4:th, 

Started,  at  7  A.M.  traveled  18  miles  over  a  level  &  low 
prairie,  saw  a  prairie  wolf,  which  I  believe,  from  his 
appearance,  to  be  a  very  near  relation  to  the  animal  that 
was  pointed  out  to  me,  on  the  11th  Inst.,  as  a  Missouri  Fox — 
Two  of  the  party  shot  a  Buck  Elk  (4  years  old)  of  about  300 
w't.  Encamped  at  a  small  point  of  wood  near  a  little  pond, 
with  good  &  cool  water.  Our  course  today  has  been  S.  of 
East — the  Lat  of  our  camp  agreeably  to  observation,  is  43°  7'  n. 

July  15th. 
The  air,  last  night,  quite  cool,  &  the  dew  fell  very  heavy, 


NEBRASKA 


KANSAS 


Modern  Map  Showin««;  Route  Taken  by  the  Exploring  Party  (1820)  in  Crossing  from  the 
Missouri  to  the  Mississippi  Rivel? 


The  Council  Bluff— St.  Peter's  Exploration  {1820.)     17 

&  to  these  causes  are  we  indebted  for  sweet  &  refreshing 
slumbers;  inasmuch  as  the  mosquitoes  disappear,  when  the 
others  commence. 

Left  camp  at  7  A.M.,  steered  our  course  N.East,  over  hand- 
some Prairies  tho'  of  but  indifferent  soil,  our  route  laying 
between  two  extensive  groves  of  timber,  which  we  observed 
yesterday  morning,  on  our  right  &  left,  &  as  far  off  as  the  eye 
could  reach;  they  have  been  gradually  approximating  &  we 
are  in  hopes  at  that  point  of  ascertaining  where  we  are,  at 
present  being  in  much  doubt,  inasmuch  as  we  have  trusted 
entirely  to  our  Guide  &  his  knowledge  being  rather  imper- 
fect— halted  on  a  ravine  for  dinner.  From  this  point  observed 
at  a  short  distance  a  Buffaloe  cow,  with  her  calf,  which  two 
of  the  party  with  their  rifles  went  in  pursuit  of  &  Col.  Morgan, 
Lieut.  Talcot  &  myself  followed  in  the  rear,  to  give  chase  in 
case  of  the  failure  of  the  former.  They  fired  when  the  cow 
&  calf  started  off,  &  we  riders  in  pursuit.  The  chase  lasted 
for  about  a  mile,  when  having  fired  two  or  three  pistol  balls 
into  the  Cow  &  she  having  received  more  from  the  others, 
we  found  ourselves  in  possession  of  her,  &  weighing  400  w't. 
In  the  afternoon  reached  the  point  of  junction  of  the  two 
groves  of  timber,  &  passing  thro'  it  reached  a  small  creek 
at  Sundown  when  we  encamped  with  an  extensive  Prairie  in 
our  front,  &  Timber  stretching  from  the  West  to  East  at  a 
great  distance  from  us. 

Made  today  18  miles  &  at  the  point  of  encampment  found 
an  excellent  spring  of  pure  &  cold  water. 

About  100  w't  of  our  jerked  Beef  being  spoiled,  we  were 
obliged  to  leave  it  for  the  wolves,  but  its  place  was  well  sup- 
plied by  the  Fresh  Buffaloe  we  obtained  immediately  after- 
wards— 

We  saw  &  heard  many  rattlesnakes  but  they  are  not  an 
object  of  much  terror  to  our  Indian  Guide,  in  as  much  as  the 
Prairie  contains  a  plenty  of  the  Bois  Blanc  De  Prairie  (white 
wood  of  the  Prairie)  &  La  Painet^^  the  decoction  of  whose 

2*  Probably  meant  for  Paigne,  which  is  given  in  Baillou's  Dictionnaire 
as  an  American  name  for  Chimaphila  Umbellata,  also  known  as  '  Prince's 
Pine'  and  'Pipsissewa.' 


18  Journal  of  S.  W.  Kearny, 

roots  are  considered  a  speedy  &  infalliable  cure  for  the  sever- 
est sting  from  them. 

July  IQth.  Sunday. 

With  a  fine  clear  Sunshiny  morning  left  camp,  at  7  A.  M. 
crossed  the  creek,  called  Bois  Frent  (hard  wood)  with  a  Rocky 
bottom.  Took  a  North  com^e;  crossed  a  fresh  trail  over 
which  we  presume  a  party  of  Dozen  Indians  must  have  passed 
yesterday — continued  our  course  over  gently  rolling  Prairies, 
for  the  distance  of  14  miles  when  we  reached  the  woods,  con- 
sisting of  oak — 

a  mile  from  this  point  reached  a  marsh  running  across  our 
route,  which  detained  us  an  hour  &  a  half  in  crossing  over  our 
baggage  &c. 

In  the  afternoon,  pursued  our  course  N.East  thro'  the  woods, 
with  thick  underbrush,  for  the  distance  of  5  miles,  &  after 
crossing  and  recrossing  a  stream,  about  10  yards  wide,  with 
gravelly  bottom,  encamped  on  a  point  of  woods,  with  an  ex- 
tensive Prairie  to  the  East. — 

For  a  few  days  past  we  have  been  gradually  losing  all  con- 
fidence in  our  Guide  as  regards  his  knowledge  of  this  part  of 
the  country ;  he  is  himself  considerably  chagrined  &  mortified 
at  his  own  ignorance,  &  his  squaw  this  evening  was  seen  weep- 
ing, most  piteously,  &  no  doubt  thro'*  fear  least,  as  her  Lord 
&  Master  has  failed  in  his  pledge  of  conducting  us  in  a  direct 
route  to  our  point  of  destination,  we  should  play  Indian  with 
him,  viz.  sacrifice  him  on  the  altar  of  his  ignorance;  A  Tin 
of  soup  from  our  mess  to  the  squaw  quieted  her  apprehension 
&  some  kind  words  satisfied  the  Indians  &  they  once  more  re- 
tired to  their  rest,  apparently  in  good  humor  &  spirits. 

Made  today  19  miles  &  our  camp,  by  observation,  is  in 
Lat.  43°  29'  N. 

July  17th. 

Started  about  7  A.M.,  passed  over  a  Prairie  of  much  low  & 
marshy  ground,  for  the  distance  of  8  miles,  when  we  reached 
another  grove  of  timber,  with  scattering  oak  &  no  underbrush, 
which  we  passed  thro',  for  5  miles,  &  halted  for  dinner,  after 


The  Council  Bluff— St.  Peter's  Exploration  {1820.)     19 

which,  parting  with  our  Guide,  he  to  endeavor  to  ascertain 
our  situation,  we  proceded  &  passed  over  a  Prairie  of  5  miles, 
&  crossing  a  ravine,  halted  on  its  banks  &  pitched  our  camp, 
at  this  time  it  commenced  raining  very  hard,  &  continued  for 
two  hours  when  the  Indian  rejoined  us,  but  still  appearing 
ignorant  of  the  surrounding  country. 
Made  today  18  miles,  our  course  N.East. 

July  ISth. 

Morning  cloudy,  &  drizzling — started  about  7  A.M. ;  course 
East ;  one  mile  brought  lis  to  a  river,  20  yards  wide,  knee  deep, 
with  stony  bottom,  and  running  from  N  to  South  with  a 
current  of  a  mile  &  a  half  an  hour,  &  the  handsomest  stream 
of  water  we  have  seen,  since  we  left  the  Bowyer;  we  do  not 
know  what  to  call  it;  our  Guide  thinks  it  the  St.  Peters .^^ 

Continued  our  course  over  some  handsome  Prairies,  well 
surrounded  with  timber,  &  which  would  admit  of  very 
beautiful  farms — crossed  a  ravine  &  halted  at  noon,  when 
Lieut.  Col.  Morgan,  Lieut.  Talcot  &  myself,  with  the  Guide, 
rode  about  six  miles,  to  the  South,  to  ascertain  if  the  river  we 
crossed  this  morning  bended  to  the  Easterly,  that  we  might 
satisfy  ourselves,  whether  or  no,  it  is  the  St.  Peters.  Re- 
turned to  the  party  of  a  contrary  opinion,  when  we  again 
proceded,  &  holding  a  N.East  course,  thro'  handsome  groves 
of  timber,  reached  another  ravine  having  made  14  miles  & 
encamped  for  the  night. 

Four  of  the  party  went  out  in  pursuit  of  game,  but  returned 
unsuccessful. 

July  19th. 

Our  provisions  being  nearly  exhausted,  &  the  uncertainty 
of  the  relative  situation  between  ourselves  &  the  St.  Peters, 
leaving  it  doubtful  when  we  shall  reach  the  Post,  at  its  mouth, 
we  rose  early  &  at  5  A.M.  took  up  our  line  of  march. 

The  cause  of  our  uncertainty,  existing  among  us,  arises  from 
the  differences  of  the  Lat.  of  the  mouth  of  St.  Peters,  as  laid 

^  Probably  it  was  the  Red  Cedar  River.  They  could  not  have  been 
within  75  miles  of  the  St.  Peter's  at  this  time. 


20  Journal  of  S.  W.  Kearny. 

down  on  the  maps,  &  as  made  by  Maj.  Long,  Topo.  Engineer, 
we  giving  credit,  to  the  latter,  but  our  Indian  insisting,  that 
we  have  crossed  the  St.  Peters  &  the  maps,  seem,  to  strengthen, 
his  opinion.^^ 

The  morning  quite  cool  &  cloudy,  &  being  determined  to 
pursue  a  N.E.  course  'til  we  strike  the  St.  Peters,  or  Mississippi 
from  either  of  which  we  shall  be  able  to  ascertain  our  situation, 
we  steered  accordingly — crossed  the  ravine  &  passed  over  a 
gently  rolling  Prairie  for  the  distance  of  10  miles,  which 
brought  us  to  a  point  of  timber  on  another  ravine,  &  which 
here  turns  at  right  angles  &  runs  to  the  East;  continued  our 
course,  which  brought  us  to  a  small  drain  of  water,  on  the 
steep  banks  of  which  we  found  regular  strata  of  sand  stone, 
&  extending  for  some  distance — crossed  over  more  prairies, 
&  thro'  woodland  &  halted  after  dark  without  wood,  or  water, 
&  tho'  supperless,  &  shelterless,  we  were  all  soon  lost  in  quiet 
repose:    we  made  today  about  31  miles. 

July  20th. 

During  last  night  we  had  a  little  rain,  started  at  4  A.M., 
crossed  over  some  very  high  hills,  well  covered  with  wood,  & 
much  underbrush,  making  the  traveling  exceedingly  difficult, 
&  after  2  miles  halted  on  the  banks  of  a  handsome  stream, 

*°  They  were  of  course  mistaken  in  their  conjecture  that  they  had  crossed 
the  St.  Peter's.  As  a  matter  of  fact  they  never  saw  that  river  until  they 
reached  their  destination  at  its  junction  with  the  Mississippi.  In  the 
London  edition  (1823)  of  James's  Long's  Expedition,  there  is  a  map,  which 
is  reproduced  by  Thwaites  in  his  Early  Western  Travels,  xiv,  p.  30,  that 
shows  an  overland  route  from  Council  Bluff  to  the  St.  Peter's,  designated  as 
'  *  Lt.  Talcott's  route  in  1820."  If  this  purported  to  be  the  route  taken  by 
our  party,  as  seems  likely  from  the  date  and  the  fact  that  Talcott  was  the 
engineer  officer  with  it,  the  map  is  in  that  respect  inaccurate,  for  it  indicates 
that  the  party  reached  the  St.  Peter's,  at  its  southernmost  bend,  and  fol- 
lowed down  to  its  mouth.  As  will  be  seen  from  further  reading  of  the 
journal  the  party  first  reached  the  Mississippi  at  Lake  Pepin,  and  thence 
ascended  that  river  to  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Peter's.  There  is  a  possibifity 
that  the  route  shown  may  have  been  a  later  one  taken  by  Talcott,  for  in  1820 
Lewis  Cass  wrote  Calhoun  recommending  Talcott  as  a  suitable  person  to 
conduct  an  expedition  up  the  St.  Peter's,  a  recommendation  naturally 
following  upon,  though  not  necessarily  implying  an  acquaintance  with,  the 
region  resulting  from  an  earlier  expedition,  that  is  to  say,  this  one. — Ed. 


The  Council  Bluff— St.  Peter's  Exploration  {1820.)      21 

(which  we  had  crossed,)  12  yards  wide,  sandy  bottom,  &  2 
or  3  feet  deep,  for  the  purpose  of  cooking  &  eating,  we  here 
took  a  farewell  meal  on  the  last  of  our  pork  &  bread ;  a  little 
parched  corn  is  still  reserved;  proceded,  at  8  A.M.,  ascended 
a  high  hill  &  struck  on  a  very  broken  country —  Two  miles 
to  the  right  of  our  course,  discerned  a  high  promontory,  & 
accompanied  by  Lieut.  T.  we  rode  to  it;  on  ascending  which, 
we  found  ourselves  about  70  feet  higher  than  the  surrounding 
country&  with  the  assistance  of  our  spyglass,  were  enabled 
to  see  a  very  great  distance  in  every  direction;  &  tho'  beautiful 
&  interesting  objects  were  presented  to  us,  we  were  not  able 
to  gain  any  satisfactory  information  relative  to  our  situation; 
rejoined  the  party  &  continuing  our  course,  descended  a  very- 
steep  declivity,  &  following  a  ravine  for  a  short  distance 
reached  a  river^^  30  yards  wide  5  feet  deep,  with  a  stony  bottom 
&  which  many  of  the  party  believe  to  be  the  St.  Peters ;  halted 
on  its  banks  &  remained  'til  sundown,  when  we  crossed  over 
to  the  iV.  side,  &  encamped  for  the  night,  having  made  11 
miles.  The  river  is  well  bordered  by  oak,  pine,  white  ash,  & 
slippery  elm,  &  in  its  vicinity  we  discovered  sand  &  limestone- 
During  the  afternoon  some  of  the  men  were  employed  in 
fishing,  but  without  success.  The  Indian  shot  3  geese,  which 
were  distributed  to  the  party —  Lieut.  T.  here  lost  an  eye 
glass  belonging  to  his  Telescope,  whose  place  was  supplied 
with  a  microscope,  &  at  night,  taking  an  observation,  found 
our  camp  to  be  44°  18'  N.  Lat. 

July  21st. 

In  consequence  of  a  little  fog  on  the  water,  or  some  other 
cause  equally  as  unimportant,  we  remained  'til  8  A.M.,  during 
which  time  we  took  our  breakfast  on  our  portion  of  the  geese, 
&  leaving  the  river,  ascended  a  high  &  broken  hill  &  then 
passing  thro'  a  thick  cluster  of  timber,  with  much  under- 
brush, for  a  mile,  descended  another  hill  &  found  ourselves  in 
a  beautiful  valley  250  yards  wide,  &  bordered  by  high  & 
broken  ridges,  following  which,  about  two  miles,  ascended  the 

'*  Probably  the  Zumbro  River. 


22  Journal  of  S.  W.  Kearny. 

left  ridge,  &  having  with  much  difficulty  &  exertion  passed 
over  many  high,  broken  &  precipitous  hills,  halted,  at  noon, 
to  rest,  tho'  without  water;  proceded  at  2  P.M.  &  reached  a 
small  drain  of  water,  &  having  lately  suffered  much  incon- 
venience from  the  want  of  it,  we  here  filled  our  canteens  & 
kegs — saw  two  deer,  neither  of  which  were  we  able  to  shoot, 
this  is  the  only  game  we  have  seen  for  several  days,  except  the 
geese  which  were  shot  &  many  Prairie  hens,  but  being  armed 
only  with  rifles,  &  these  hens  not  to  be  discovered  in  the  grass, 
&  only  seen  when  flying,  we  are  not  able  to  shoot  them — 
about  4  P.M.  when  every  one  of  the  party  was  niuch  fatigued 
with  traveling,  &  almost  exhausted  by  a  scorching  sun 
&  empty  stomachs,  with  much  anxiety  of  mind  respecting 
our  situation,  we  discovered  from  a  high  ridge  the  Mississippi 
river,  &  freshening  up,  we  with  light  hearts  &  quick  steps 
soon  reached  its  water,  at  which  point  we  observed  a  boat  on 
the  opposite  shore  &  after  hailing,  for  a  considerable  time,  a 
canoe,  with  3  Sioux  Indians,  with  much  precaution  approached 
us.  From  these  we  learn  the  river  we  left  this  morning  to 
be  the  Pine,^^  that  we  are  now  at  Lake  Pepin,  &  that  the  Boat 
opposite  has  plenty  of  provisions;  some  of  the  party  took  the 
Indians'  canoe,  &  paddled  to  them  obtained  pork,  bread,  & 
whiskey. 

This  supply,  so  perfectly  unexpected,  saved  us  the  trouble 
of  butchering  one  of  our  mules,  which  we  had  determined 
on  &  which  we  should  have  done  this  evening,  a  selection 
having  been  made,  &  our  appetites  perfectly  prepared. 
Made  to-day  14  miles.  About  10  P.M.,  twelve  Indians,  the 
remainder  of  the  party  to  which  the  others  belong,  came  over, 
&  after  presenting  each  with  some  tobacco,  they  lay  down  and 
slept  in  our  camp. 

July  22d. 

At  day  break  all  the  Indians,  excepting  one  whom  we  re- 
tained as  guide, left  us  for  their  village;  we  followed  at  7  A.M., 
crossed  a  small  stream  at  its  mouth,  being  about  5  feet  deep 

""  Now  known  as  the  Zumbro. 


The  Council  Bluff— St.  Peter's  Exploration  {1820.)      23 

&  12  yards  wide;  followed  up/ on  the  margin  of  the  river, 
seeing  many  Pheasants,  the  first  I  have  seen  since  crossing  the 
Alleghany  Mountains,  &  great  number  of  Pigeons,  several  of 
which  we  shot — crossed  a  high  hill,  &  leaving  sight  of  the 
river,  struck  into  some  beautiful  little  valHes,  thro'  which  we 
held  our  course,  (new  objects  &  interesting  ones  continually 
presenting  themselves)  till  we,  at  sundown,  reached  an 
Indian  village  on  the  Mississippi,  having  made  15  miles — 
during  a  very  hot  day. 

For  the  first  time  since  our  leaving  C.  Bluff,  our  Indian  & 
his  squaw  this  day  quarreled — she  has  hitherto  been  very 
politely  treated  by  him  &  as  much  so  as  the  Ladies  in  our 
most  polished  societies  receive  from  their  husbands.  This 
day  our  party  being  increased  by  our  new  Indian  Guide,  the 
other  is  ashamed  to  continue  his  kindness,  in  as  much  as  the 
Indians  consider  nothing  more  disgraceful  than  to  wait  upon 
their  squaws,  but  on  the  contrar}^  make  the  latter  their  ser- 
vants &  perform  all  the  most  menial  duties. 

The  village  we  reached  this  evening  has  been  established 
about  10  years  since  by  Tauton  Gomony  (Red  Wing)^^  a  chief 

^^  Red  Wing,  a  distinguished  Sioux  chieftain,  was  born  about  the  mid- 
dle of  the  eighteenth  century  and  lived  till  about  1825  or  '30.  His  name 
has  been  commemorated  by  the  present  town  of  Redwing,  Minn.,  the  site 
of  his  old  village.  He  was  an  early  example  of  the  self-made  American. 
Not  born  in  a  chief's  family,  he  rose  from  the  warrior  ranks  by  sheer  force 
of  character  to  be  second  in  importance  only  to  Wabasha,  the  most  influ- 
ential chief  of  the  Sioux  Nation.  "Tauton  Gominy,"  the  Indian  name 
given  him  by  Kearny,  we  can  not  be  sure  about,  either  in  its  rendering  or 
application.  Pike  gave  it  both  as  "  Talangamane  "  and  "  Tantangamini," 
with  the  French  and  English  equivalents,  ''L'Aile  Rouge"  and  "Red 
Wing."  (Coues' Pike,  i.  pp.  342  and  347.)  Dr.  Foster  called  him  "Tah- 
tawkahmahnee,"  but  translated  it  as  "Le  boeuf  que  [qui]  marche"  or 
"The  Walking  Buffalo."  He  said  he  was  also  known  as  "The  Red  Wing." 
{ibid.,  p.  88.)  Beltrami  gave  the  name  "Tantangamini,"  most  nearly 
like  Kearny,  but  seems  to  have  assumed  it  meant  Red  Wing.  (Beltrami's 
A  Pilgrimage  in  Europe  and  America  (1823),  ii,  p.  188.)  Schoolcraft 
(1820)  speaks  of  him  as  "Tarangamani,"  or  Red  Wing.  (Phila.  ed.  1855, 
p.  163.)  Keating,  the  chronicler  of  Long's  Expedition,  makes  the  name 
" Tatunkamane "  (meaning,  he  says,  "The  Walking  Buffalo"),  but  states 
that  it  belonged  not  to  the  chief  but  to  the  chief's  son.  The  chief's  own 
Indian  name,  he  says  was  "Shakea"  ("the  man  that  paints  himself  red") 


24  Journal  of  S.  W.  Kearny. 

&  of  the  Gens  De  Lac,  a  Tribe  of  the  Sioux;  he  is  about  70 
years  old  &  has  been  much  distinguished  for  his  military 
talents  &  prowess,  as  well  as  his  friendship  &  attachment  to 
the  Americans;  on  our  arriving  near  his  village,  we  were  on 
the  point  of  encamping  about  200  yards  from  it;  he  invited 

and  his  village  bore  the  name  Red  Wing,  "by  which  the  chief  was  formerly 
known."  (Keating's  Long's  Expedition,  i,  p.  260.)  Catlin  the  Indian 
painter,  who  came  along  ten  years  later,  after  the  death  of  the  old  chief, 
met  his  son  whom  he  calls  "Tah-t6n-ga-m6-nee,  Red  Wing's  son.  (The 
George  Catlin  Indian  Gallery:  Donaldson,  p.  58.)  Whatever  may  have 
been  the  pixjper  Indian  name  of  the  chief,  he  will  always  be  known  in  his- 
tory as  "Red  Wing."  He  had  an  active  fighting  career  as  the  head  of 
an  important  tribe  of  the  Sioux,  called  the  "Menowa  Kantong,"  trans- 
lated by  Pike  as  "Gens  du  Lac,"  or  "the  people  of  the  lake."  Like  his 
confrere  Red  Hawk,  of  the  Sisseton  tribe,  he  assisted  the  British  in  the  War 
of  1812.  These  two  chiefs  and  another  one  known  as  "The  Sixth,"  with 
a  large  party  of  Sioux,  all  under  the  war  chief  Wabasha,  were  in  the  attack 
on  Ft.  Sandusky  in  1813  (see  Mo.  Hist.  Soc.  Colls.,  iii,  p.  19,  n.  25.)  Red 
Wing  presumably  was  also  present  at  the  battle  on  Mackinac  Island,  in 
which  the  American  commander.  Major  Holmes,  was  killed,  for  following 
that  affair  he  came  down  with  a  party  of  200  Sioux  and  the  Mackinac  mil- 
itia (British)  to  help  in  the  assault  of  the  post  at  Prairie  du  Chien. 
("Grignon's  Reccollections,"  Wis.  Hist.  Colls. ,in,  p.  271.)  Captain  Ander- 
son, a  trader  who  commanded  one  of  Mackinac  militia  companies,  said 
Red  Wing  was  "famed  for  telling  events."  Judged  by  his  subsequent 
course,  this  talent  seems  to  have  been  ordinary  foresight  coupled  with 
discretion.  After  the  last-named  fight  he  decided  to  quit  and  retire  to 
private  life,  because  it  would  seem,  of  a  vision  he  had  that  the  British 
would  soon  be  driven  away,  leaving  the  Indians  to  fight  it  out  alone  or 
make  peace  with  the  Americans.  He  gave  back  the  Royal  George  medal, 
presented  to  him  by  the  British,  explaining,  when  pressed,  "You  tell  me 
the  lion  on  this  medal  is  the  most  powerful  of  all  animals.  I  have  never 
seen  one,  but  I  believe  what  you  say.  This  lion  *  ♦  *  sleeps  all 
day,  but  the  eagle,  who  is  the  most  powerful  of  birds,  sleeps  only  at  night. 
In  the  day  time  he  flies  about  everywhere  and  sees  all  on  the  ground. 
He  will  light  on  a  tree  over  the  lion,  and  they  will  scold  each  other  for 
a  while,  but  they  will  finally  make  up  and  be  friends,  and  smoke  the  pipe 
of  peace.  The  lion  will  then  go  home  and  leave  us  Indians  to  our  foes. 
This  is  the  reason  for  not  taking  up  my  war  club.  Your  enemies  will 
believe  me  when  I  speak  good  words  to  them."  ("Personal  Narrative  of 
Thomas  A.  Anderson."  Wis.  Hist.  Colls.,  ix,  p.  197.)  He  had  already 
shared  in  more  actions  than  almost  any  other  Indian,  and  yet  had  the 
reputation  of  never  having  been  defeated.  (Keating's  Long,  supra.) 
Doty,  who  visited  him  in  1820,  found  him  possessed  of  a  marked  sense  of 
justice,  and  gives  an  instance  of  his  great  moderation.  ("Papers  of  James 
Duane  Doty,"  Wis.  Hist.  Colls.,  xiii,  p.  218.)     In  1823  Keating  found  him 


The  Council  Bluff— St.  Peter's  Exploration  {1820.)      25 

us  nearer  when  some  excuse  was  offered  for  our  declining,  on 
which  occasion  he  was  much  chagrined  &  mortified,  &  ex- 
pressing it  to  us  &  adding  that  no  American  had  ever  before 
shunned  him,  we  accepted  his  invitation,  &  encamped  near 
his  Wig  Warns;  after  which  the  officers  were  invited  by  him 
to  a  Feast  &  seating  ourselves  alongside  of  him,  his  squaw 
handed  each  of  us  a  bason  of  venison,  boiled  up  with  parched 
corn  which  we  found  exceedingly  palatable.  Whilst  eating, 
the  chief,  by  means  of  our  old  Guide,  (who  speaks  French  as 
well  as  the  Sioux  language)  he  told  us  that  what  was  placed 
before  us  was  ours,  &  that  he  did  not  wish  any  returned  to 
him;  our  share  having  been  much  more  than  we  could  possibly 
digest,  we  sent  our  leavings  to  the  soldiers;  we  then  returned 
to  our  camp,  &  were  followed  shortly  after  by  him,  accom- 
panied by  his  squaw,  bringing  Fish  &  a  deer  head.  We  gave 
him  whiskey  &  tea  &  making  him  a  present  of  some  tobacco^ 
he  retired,  &  we  went  to  rest. 

July  2Zrd,  Sunday. 

During  last  night  we  experienced  a  very  severe  storm  of 
rain.  Thunder  &  Lightning,  accompanied  by  a  heavy  gale  of 
wind,  &  the  weather,  during  the  morning,  continuing  un- 
favorable, we  remained  til  2  P.M.,  previous  to  which  we  took 
our  dinner  &  had  as  a  guest  the  Indian  chief,  whom  we 
treated  with  pork  &  biscuit;  a  Boat  with  some  Frenchmen 
from  Lord  Selkirk's  estabHshment,^*  on  the  Red  River,  like- 
much  superannuated  but  still  highly  respected  on  account  of  his  former 
distinguished  achievements.  He  was  then  about  70  years  old,  "  of  hideous 
aspect,  bent  under  the  weight  of  years  and  atrocities,"  says  Beltrami,  in 
the  same  year,  "but  still,  the  scars  with  which  his  naked  body  was  covered, 
the  dignity  with  which  he  wore  his  buffalo  skin,  hung  on  his  shoulders 
like  the  glamis  of  the  Romans,"  his  war  club  in  hand  and  quiver  on  his 
back,  gave  him  "more  ^clat  and  majesty  than  a  king."  He  was  so  much 
feared  by  his  people  that  even  in  old  age  he  was  treated  with  extraordinary 
deference.  (Beltrami,  ii,  p.  188.)  His  granddaughter  married  Colonel 
Crawford,  a  man  of  commercial  activity  about  Prairie  du  Chien  and 
Michilimackinac  during  the  War  of  1812,  who  has  left  descendants  in  the 
lake  country.     (Schoolcraft,  supra.) 

^LoRD  Selkirk's  Establishment.     The  Earl  of  Selkirk,  a  wealthy, 


26  Journal  of  S,  W.  Kearny. 

wise  arrived  at  this  time.  Leaving  the  Mississippi,  to  avoid 
its  banks,  we  proceeded  to  Cannon  River,  about  30  yds  wide, 
3  feet  deep,  &  crossing  which,  encamped  on  its  banks,  having 
made  6  miles.  During  our  march  this  afternoon  it  rained 
harder  than  I  had  ever  before  known  &  we  had  much  Thunder 
&  Lightning  the  latter,  at  one  time,  we  discerned  for  a  few 
seconds  very  near  &  setting  a  cluster  of  Trees,  as  it  were, 
on  fire. 

At  sundown  our  new  Indian  was  sent  back  to  his  village, 
with  some  Tobacco,  to  trade  for  provisions  (our  men  having 
eaten  so  voraciously  as  to  exhaust  our  late  supplies)  he  re- 
turned at  10  P.  M.,  bringing  a  Fish,  &  a  few  quarts  of  dryed 
wild  Potatoes. 

July  2Uh. 

During  last  night  we  were  very  much  annoyed  by  the  buz- 

kind-hearted  but  visionary  Scotchman,  had  obtained  from  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  in  1811  a  grant  of  land  in  the  Red  River  Valley,  between 
Lake  Winnipeg  and  the  United  States  boundary,  and  wrote  some  tracts 
urging  the  importance  of  colonizing  British  emigrants  in  this  distant 
region  and  thus  checking  the  disposition  to  settle  in  the  United  States. 
The  first  lot  of  the  colonists,  about  fifty  Scotchmen,  arrived  in  the  follow- 
ing year.  All  might  have  gone  well  enough  with  them  but  for  the  fact 
that  the  agents  of  the  North  West  Company  looked  upon  the  move  as  a 
scheme  of  encroachment  on  the  part  of  their  rival,  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company.  In  the  disgraceful  strife  waged  between  the  two  powerful 
companies  the  Selkirk  colonists  became  the  chief  sufferers.  Persecuted 
to  distraction  by  the  North  West  people,  their  lot  became  a  hard  one. 
The  story  of  their  sufferings  is  one  of  the  most  heartrending  in  the  history 
of  this  Northern  region.  In  1819  their  crops  having  been  destroyed  by 
grasshoppers,  they  sent  to  Prairie  du  Chien  in  the  following  spring  for  seed. 
Three  Mackinac  boats  laden  with  wheat,  oats  and  peas  went  to  their  relief, 
puisuant  to  a  business  agreement  entered  into  with  contractors  at  that 
trading  post.  This  was  the  first  consignment  of  freight  from  Prairie  du 
Chien  to  the  Red  River  Settlement,  a  noteworthy  fact.  The  boatmen 
retmned  across  the  plains  on  foot  and  from  Big  Stone  Lake  by  canoe. 
It  was  some  of  these  men,  probably,  that  Kearny  saw,  as  they  would  have 
been  just  about  returning  at  this  time.  For  further  facts  about  Lord 
Selkirk's  colony,  see  Chittenden's  History  of  the  American  Fur  Trade  of 
the  Far  West,  i,  p.  91;  Neill's  History  of  Minnesota,  pp.  301-20,  and  "Rem- 
iniscences: Historical  and  Personal,"  by  H.  H.  Sibley,  Minn.  Hist. 
Colls.,  i,  p.  470. 


{^  /^f^^xSt:.*^-iAc^^  o^^xj^^-^C^ 


The  Council  Bluff— St.  Peter's  Exploration  {1820.)      27 

zing  &  stinging  of  the  mosquitoes,  so  much  so  as  to  prevent 
several  of  us  from  sleeping — proceeded  at  5  A.M.,  crossed 
over  some  handsome  Prairies,  &  thro'  beautiful  vallies. 
Forded  a  stream  of  clear  water,  10  yards  wide,  2  feet  deep  & 
fining  our  kegs  proceded  20  miles  to  breakfast;  obtaining 
which  &  our  provisions  being  again  out,  we  started  &  passing 
over  gentle  hills  &  handsome  small  Prairies  we  reached  a 
Lake  &  afte  taking  a  drink,  proceeded  to  a  second,  covering 
about  an  acre  of  ground,  &  having  made  30  miles,  halted 
for  the  night. 

July  25th. 

Started  at  6  A.  M.  passing  over  a  few  gentle  hills  &  some 
Prairie,  reached  the  Fort,  at  the  mouth  of  St.  Peters  on  the 
Mississippi,  not  having  seen  the  latter  river  since  our  leaving 
the  Indian  village,  our  course  having  been  about  N.W.  At  this 
place  we  obtained  a  very  comfortable  breakfast,  &  after  which 
meeting  with  Col.  Leavenworth,  ^^  we  dispatched  our  soldiers 

^  Henry  Leavenworth  was  born  10  Dec,  1783,  at  New  Haven,  Conn. 
In  early  childhood  he  removed  to  Danville,  Vt.  He  studied  law  at  Delhi, 
N.  Y.,  under  Gen.  Erastus  Root  and  practiced  with  him  1804-12.  At  the 
outbreak  of  the  war  with  England  he  raised  a  company  in  Delaware  County, 
which  was  taken  into  the  25th  U.  S.  Infantry  Regiment,  with  himself  as 
captain,  25  April,  1812.  He  was  promoted  to  major  in  the  9th  Infantry, 
15  Aug.,  1813;  brevetted  lieutenant-colonel,  5  July,  1814,  for  distinguished 
service  at  the  battle  of  Chippewa,  Upper  Canada,  and  brevetted  colonel 
twenty  days  later  for  valiant  conduct  at  Niagara  Falls,  where  he  was 
wounded.  He  was  transferred  to  the  2d  Infantry,  17  May,  1815.  After 
the  war  he  obtained  a  leave  of  absence,  and  in  the  following  year  became 
a  member  of  the  Legislature  in  the  State  of  New  York.  In  1817  he  was 
made  Indian  Agent  for  the  Northwest  Territory,  with  headquarters  at 
Prairie  du  Chien.  His  wife  and  daughter  are  said  to  have  been  the  first 
white  women  to  travel  through  the  wilderness  to  this  remote  station.  He 
was  promoted  to  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  5th  Infantry^  10  Feb.,  1818. 
In  the  following  summer*  he  set  out  from  Prairie  du  Chien  with  the  advance 
guard  of  the  Mississippi  River  expedition  to  establish  a  military  post  near 
the  head  of  navigation.  The  outfit  consisted  of  98  soldiers,  20  boatmen, 
with  the  requisite  supplies,  in  17  batteaux  and  other  craft.  They  arrived 
14  Aug.,  1819,  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Peter's  (Minnesota)  River,  and 
forthwith  threw  up  the  cantonment  which  later  became  Fort  Snelling 
(see  note  6).     Before  the  permanent  buildings  were  completed  Leaven- 


28  Journal  of  S.  W.  Kearny. 

with  the  horses  and  mules  by  land  (having  previously  swam 
the  latter  over  the  St.  Peters,)  &  accompanied  him  in  his 
boat  to  his  new  cantonment,  IJ  miles  from  the  old  one,  hav- 
ing made  today  5  miles.  We  were  here  most  kindly  & 
hospitably  received  &  entertained  by  Col.  L.  &  his  Lady,  & 

worth  was  transferred  (1  Oct.,  1821)  to  the  6th  Infantry,  and  put  in  com- 
mand of  the  troops  at  Fort  Atkinson  (Council  Bluff).  In  1823  he  com- 
manded a  successful  expedition  against  the  Arickaree  Indians  700  miles 
above  Council  Bluff  on  the  Missouri  River.  For  this  service  he  was 
specially  mentioned  by  the  department  commander  and  commended 
both  by  Secretary  of  War  Calhoun  and  by  President  Monroe  in  his  annual 
message.  On  25  July,  1824,  he  completed  ten  years  continuous  service 
in  the  grade  of  brevet  colonel,  for  which  he  received  the  brevet  of  brigadier 
general,  as  of  said  date,  although  actually  the  promotion  was  not  given 
him  until  1830,  owing  to  a  long  pending  uncertainty  in  the  War  Depart- 
ment as  to  the  proper  interpretation  of  the  law  in  its  application  to  brevet 
grades.  He  became  colonel  of  the  3d  Infantry,  16  Dec,  1825,  with  station 
at  Green  Bay.  Late  in  the  summer  of  1826  he  brought  his  regiment 
down  the  Mississippi  to  St.  Louis  and  went  into  camp  (19  Sept.,  1826) 
ten  miles  below  the  city  on  the  site  selected  for  a  new  military  post.  Maj. 
Stephen  W.  Kearny,  with  a  battalion  of  the  1st  Infantry,  had  arrived 
there  two  months  before,  on  the  abandonment  of  old  Cantonment  Belle- 
fontaine,  10  July,  1826.  The  troops  built  temporary  log  cabins  for  the 
winter,  and  the  post  was  given  the  name  "Jefferson  Barracks,"  23 
Oct.,  1826,  in  memory  of  Jefferson  who  had  died  July  4.  (See  editorial 
note  "  The  Beginning  of  Jefferson  Barracks."  Mo.  Hist.  Soc.  Colls,  iii. 
No.  2.)  In  the  spring  of  1827  permanent  stone  buildings  were  begun, 
under  the  supervision  of  Gen.  Atkinson,  but  the  3d  Infantry,  under 
Col.  Leavenworth,  was  diverted  from  the  work  to  undertake  a 
new  mission.  As  soon  as  navigation  opened,  four  companies  of 
the  regiment  embarked  in  keel  boats  (17  April,  1827)  and  went  up 
the  Missouri  for  the  purpose  of  establishing,  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Little  Platte,  still  another  post.  On  May  8,  Col.  Leavenworth  wrote 
that  he  had  chosen  a  site  for  it  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Missouri, 
and  had  begun  the  erection  of  the  new  cantonment.  He  did  not  know  it 
was  to  be  named  for  him  and  was  to  become  the  largest  and  most  im- 
portant of  all  our  army  posts.  The  city  of  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  grew 
up  near  the  post  and  further  commemorates  his  name.  The  honor  of 
having  so  large  a  part  in  the  establishment  of  three  prominent  military 
posts  probably  fell  to  no  other  officer  before  or  since.  In  1829  Leaven- 
worth and  his  troops  returned  to  Cantonment  Jefferson,  near  St.  Louis, 
where  he  became  post  commander.  The  command  of  the  whole  south- 
western frontier  was  given  to  him  in  1834,  in  which  year  he  took  charge 
of  an  expedition  against  hostile  Pawnee  and  Comanche  Indians.  Out  of. 
this  enterprise  was  secured,  without  a  single  collision,  a  permanent  treaty 
of  peace.     While  engaged  on  this  duty  he  contracted  a  fever  from  which 


The  Council  Bluff— St.  Peter's  Exploration  {1820,)      29 

being  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  society,  &  the  hearty  welcome 
&  good  comforts  of  their  table,  imagined  ourselves  repaid  for 
the  hardships  we  had  endured,  the  difficulties  we  had  met 
with,  &  the  obstacles  we  had  overcome  during  our  journey 
from  the  C.  Bluffs — we  were  likewise  cordially  received  by 
all  the  officers  at  the  Post,  who  were  a  Httle  astonished  at 
the  sight  of  us,  we  having  been  the  First  Whites  that  ever 
crossed  at  such  a  distance  from  the  Missouri  to  the  Missis- 
sippi river. 

The  object  of  the  exploring  party  which  I  have  accom- 
panied from  the  C.B.^^  being  to  discover  a  practicable  route  for 
travehng  between  that  Post  &  this  (on  the  St.  Peters),  the  one 
we  have  come  is  not,  in  the  least,  adapted  for  that  purpose. 

Our  circuitous  &  wavering  route  (which  is  to  be  attributed 
to  the  Guide's  advice,  being  in  direct  contradiction  to  our 
opinion,  &  we  being  occasionally  guided  by  the  one,  &  then 
by  the  other);  the  immense  Prairies  we  have  crossed;  the 
want  of  timber,  which  we  for  several  days  at  a  time  ex- 
perienced; the  little  water  that  in  some  parts  were  to  be 
found;  the  high  &  precipitous  Mountains  &  hills  that  we 
climbed  over,  render  that  road  impracticable  &  almost 
impassable,  for  more  than  very  small  bodies.  A  very  great 
portion  of  the  country  in  the  neighborhood  of  our  route  could 
be  of  no  other  object  (at  anytime)  to  our  gov't  in  the  acquisition 

he  died,  21  July,  1834,  at  a  place  called  Cross  Timbers,  Indian  Territory. 
Four  days  after  his  death,  but  before  the  news  of  it  reached  the  East,  his 
promotion  to  the  full  grade  of  brigadier  general  was  announced  at  Wash- 
ington, the  ten  years  since  the  date  of  his  brevet  rank  in  that  grade  hav- 
ing been  completed.  His  death  caused  profound  sorrow,  not  only  in  his 
regiment  but  throughout  the  army.  A  monument  to  his  memory  was 
erected  by  his  regiment,  the  3d  Infantry.  His  remains  were  taken  East, 
but  many  years  later  (1902)  were  brought  to  Fort  Leavenworth  and  there 
interred  with  befitting  ceremony.  In  the  truest  sense  Gen.  Leavenworth 
was  a  pioneer  of  the  West.  The  better  part  of  his  life  was  spent  on  the 
frontier  in  the  arduous  service  of  helping  to  prepare  a  vast  domain  for  set- 
tlement and  civilization.  (Heitman's  Hist.  Reg.  and  Diet,  of  the  U.  S. 
Army,  i,  p.  622;  Lamb's  Biog.  Diet,  of  the  U.  S.,  v,  p.  3;  Forsyth's  Joiirnal, 
Wis.  Hist.  Colls.,  vi,  p.  205;  Kan.  Hist.  Colls.,  vii,  p.  577,  and  sketch  by 
Maj.  G.  B.  Davis,  in  the  Journal  of  the  U.  S.  Cavalry.  Ass'n,  viii,  p  261.) 
^  Council  Bluffs. 


30  Journal  of  S.  W.  Kearny. 

of  it,  than  the  expulsion  of  the  savages  from  it,  &  the  driving 
them  nearer  to  the  N.West,  &  the  Pacific  for  the  disadvan- 
tages (as  above)  will  forever  prevent  its  supporting  more 
than  a  thinly  scattered  population.  The  soil  generally  we 
found  good,  but  bears  no  comparison  to  that  I  saw  between 
Chariton  &  C.B. 

July  2m. 

Crossed  over  to  the  opposite  shore  of  the  Miss,  into  the 
North  West  Territory,  where  I  found  the  bank  about  60  feet 
high;  Two  thirds  of  which  is  (if  it  may  be  so  denominated) 
a  regular  strata  of  sand,  having  two  or  three  inches  of  the 
exterior  hard  like  stone,  but  breaking  which  came  to  a  beauti- 
ful white  &  fine  sand;  the  other  third  is  Limestone,  with  a 
considerable  mixture  of  the  above  sand. 

Col.  Leavenworth,  being  a  magistrate  and  authorized  to 
exercise  the  functions  appertaining  thereto  in  the  N.W, 
Ter'y,^''  he  accompanied  a  Lieut  Green  &  a  Miss  Gooding 
across  the  river,  &  there  married  them,  after  which  they  re- 
turned, &  I  paid  my  respects  to  the  Bride  &  Groom. ^* 

^The  "Northwest  Territory,"  it  will  be  remembered,  embraced  the 
region  east  of  the  Mississippi.  Col.  Leavenworth's  authority  as  magis- 
trate was  probably  derived  from  his  office  of  Indian  Agent  of  the  Terri- 
tory {see  note  35.) 

^*  Probably  the  first  marriage  of  white  persons  living  in  Minnesota. 
The  bridegroom,  Piatt  R.  Green,  was  the  regimental  adjutant.  He  was 
born  in  New  York  State;  entered  the  army  31  May,  1814,  as  ensign  in  the 
21st  Infantry;  promoted  to  2d  lieutenant,  1  Oct.,  1814;  transferred  to 
5th  Infantry,  17  May,  1815;  regimental  adjutant  from  4  June,  1819,  to 
1  Sept.,  1821 ;  promoted  to  1st  lieutenant,  27  May,  1820;  died  30  June, 
1828.  (Heitman.)  The  bride  was  the  daughter  of  Capt.  and  Mrs.  George 
Gooding,  of  the  5th  Infantry,  who  were  stationed  at  the  post  and  were 
among  the  first  arrivals  there.  Mrs.  Gooding  is  said  to  have  been  the  first 
lady  to  visit  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  (Forsyth's  Journal,  Minn.  Hist. 
Colls.,  ii-iii,  p.  155.)  Capt.  Gooding  left  the  army  in  1821  and  became 
sutler  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  continuing  as  such  till  1827.  After  his  death 
his  widow  married  John  W.  Johnson  {see  note  56),  of  Prairie  du  Chien, 
and  later  lived  in  St.  Louis.  {Minn.  Hist.  Colls.,  i,  p.  442.)  Lieu- 
tenant Green  and  his  wife  remained  at  the  post  several  years.  Their 
little  son  died  and  was  buried  there.  ("Reminiscences  of  Mrs.  Ann  Ad- 
ams," Minn.  Hist.  Colls.,  vi,  part  2,  p.  95.) 


The  Council  Bluff— St.  Peter's  Exploration  {1820,)      31 

July  27th. 

After  breakfast,  in  company  with  Col.  Morgan  &  Leav- 
enworth, Lieut.  Pentland  &  Talcot,  I  left  camp,  to  visit 
the  surrounding  country;  passed  up  in  a  N.  W.  direc- 
tion over  rich  Prairies,  &  soon  reached  the  ''Falls  of  St. 
Anthony." 

In  viewing  these  Falls,  I  must  confess  they  did  not  strike 
me  with  that  majestic  &  grand  appearance  I  had  been  induced 
to  expect  from  their  description  by  former  travellers — They 
are,  however,  very  beautiful  &  probably  on  account  of  having 
frequently  seen  the  immense  Falls  of  Niagara  &  the  high 
pitch  I  had  wrought  myself  up  to,  of  witnessing  in  the  savage 
country  a  body  of  water  (at  a  particular  point)  held  in  vener- 
ation by  the  neighboring  Tribes  of  Indians,  &  to  which  many 
of  them  at  this  day  offer  their  tribute,  may  account  for  my 
disappointment. 

The  view,  as  presented  to  me  from  the  W.  shore,  &  a  short 
distance  below  the  Fall,  was  nearly  thus: 

About  30  yards  from  the  E.  shore,  &  as  many  below  the 
falls,  commences  an  Island,  which  runs  up  a  quarter  of  a 
mile,  probably  20  yards  wide,  covered  with  timber  which 
prevented  a  view  of  the  Falls  beyond — Between  that  island 
&  the  W.  shore  the  water  appears  to  flow  over  the  Falls  in 
28  separate  or  detached  bodies;  the  edge  or  extremity  circu- 
itous, &  having  many  angles,  tho'  quite  regular.  The  pitch 
or  Fall  of  water  is  16  feet,  tho'  immediately  &  for  some  hun- 
dred yards  below,  the  water  dashes,  with  the  rapidity  of 
Lightning,  over  large  Limestone  Rocks,  which  have  been 
worn  away  from  the  main  body  at  the  Fall — above  &  below 
these  Falls  are  many  rapids,  which  assist  to  divers  [if]  y  the 
scene  &  render  it  more  terrific,  a  small  Island  near  the  W. 
shore,  a  few  yards  below  the  Fall,  separates  the  body  of  water 
&  helps  to  increase  its  rapidity,  by  giving  to  it  a  smaller  chan- 
nel. The  width  of  the  river  above  the  Falls  may  be  about 
600  &  the  banks  from  that  point,  approaching  each  other, 
leave  it  not  more  below  than  200  yards. 

The  roaring  of  the  water  may  be  heard  for  a  considerable 


32  Journal  of  S.  W.  Kearny, 

distance,  say  10  or  12  miles,  tho'  the  spray  did  not  extend  as 
far  as  one  might  have  reason  to  expect  it  would — 

One  of  the  above  bodies,  being  the  most  prominent,  not 
only  as  to  situation  but  to  attract  attention,  is  about  30  feet 
long  &  has  very  much  the  appearance  of  a  large  wheel  turn- 
ing round  with  great  rapidity 

The  Falls  are  9  by  water  &  7  miles  by  Land  above  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Peters  river. 

The  Indians  consider  these  Falls  as  a  Great  Spirit,  &  when 
passing  make  presents  &  pay  their  adoration  to  them —  Some 
give  tobacco;  some,  whiskey,  &  all,  what  they  themselves  are 
most  fond  of — a  Drum  and  sticks  were  once  thrown  in  &  the 
present  accompanied  by  the  remark  that  as  the  Great  Spirit 
appeared  to  be  fond  of  noise,  the  Drum  was  offered  that  he 
might  beat  upon  it  &  make  as  much  as  he  thought  proper. 

The  distance  of  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  from  the  mouth 
of  St.  Peters  river  is  the  same  as  those  of  Niagara  from  the 
Town  of  Queenston,  &  'tis  generally  supposed  the  latter  Falls 
once  were  at  the  latter  place;  The  Banks,  rocks,  &c.,  &c., 
at  the  St.  Peters,  have  as  much  appearance  of  a  large  Fall 
having  been  at  that  place,  as  those  of  Queenston  have;  and 
why  is  it  not  as  probable? 

I  have  mentioned  the  above  as  a  curiosity,  leaving  it  for 
others  to  investigate  the  history  of  the  Falls,  I  merely  vouch- 
ing for  the  correctness  of  the  appearance  of  them. 

From  the  Falls,  our  party  proceded  to  a  beautiful  Lake  & 
after  firing  at  some  geese  left  it,  &  passing  by  a  handsome 
grove  of  Tamaracks,  (a  tall  &  very  straight  tree)  reached 
another,  where  we  passed  3  or  4  hours  in  fishing,  &  with  great 
success.    Returned  to  camp  at  sun  down. 

Lieut.  T.  took  an  observation,  &  found  our  camp  (a  mile 
from  the  St.  Peters)  in  Lat.  44°  54'  N. 

July  2Sth. 

Day  clear  &  pleasant,  visited  a  point  of  Land  at  the  mouth 
of  the  St.  Peters  river, — where  'tis  contemplated  building 
permanent  barracks  &  a    fortification — ^The  point  is  com- 


The  Council  Bluff— St,  Peter's  Exploration  {1820.       33 

manded  by  several  high  hills  in  its  neighborhood,  and  all  of 
which  it  would  be  impossible  to  fortify. 

July  29th. 

Started  at  9  A.M.  to  descend  the  Mississippi — at  the  con- 
fluence of  the  Miss.  &  St.  Peters  rivers  is  an  Island,  of  about 
100  acres,  &  the  waters  of  both  rivers  flow  on  either  side,  as 
the  tide  or  water  of  either  may  be  the  highest — The  former  is 
at  that  point  130  yards  &  the  latter  80,  wide — Descended  the 
river  4  miles,  when  we  put  to  at  a  ravine  &  walking  up  which 
for  200  yards,  reached  a  Cave,^*  being  at  the  mouth  20  feet 
wide  &  10  high;  handsomely  arched  &  the  roof  &  floor,  being 
of  a  beautiful  white  sand,  resembling  the  finest  muscovado^o 
sugar — Taking  a  candle,  I  commenced  entering  it,  in  company 
with  3  or  4  of  our  boat's  party — we  penetrated  about  400 
yards,  frequently  obHdged  to  crawl  on  our  hands  and  feet, 
it  being  so  low  &  then  on  account  of  its  narrow  passage, 
sidhng  along  &  supporting  ourselves  (having  no  foot  hold) 
with  our  backs  &  hands — at  100  yards  from  the  entrance 
we  passed  thro'  a  room,  of  about  15  feet  square  As  far  as 
we  penetrated  we  found  a  rapid  stream  of  water  (cold  as  ice 
&  in  which  we  could  not  remain  for  any  length  of  time)  oc- 
casionally two  yards  wide,  &  then  narrowing  to  a  foot;  In 
some  places  it  was  so  deep  that  we  could  not  touch  bottom, 

^^  This  cave  is  evidently  the  same  one  visited  by  Capt.  Carver  in  1767. 
He  wrote:  "About  thirty  miles  below  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  *  *  * 
is  a  remarkable  cave  of  an  amazing  depth.  The  Indians  term  it  Wakon- 
teebe,  that  is,  the  Dwelling  of  the  Great  Spirit.  The  entrance  to  it  is 
about  ten  feet  wide,  the  height  of  it  five  feet.  The  arch  within  is  near 
fifteen  feet  high,  and  about  thirty-five  broad.  The  bottom  of  it  consists  of 
fine  clear  sand.  About  twenty-five  feet  from  the  entrance  begins  a  lake, 
the  water  of  which  is  transparent  and  extends  to  an  unsearchable  distance. 
*  *  *  I  found  in  this  cave  many  Indian  hieroglyphics,  which  appeared 
very  ancient.  *  *  *  The  cave  is  only  accessible  by  ascending  a  nar- 
row, steep  passage  that  lies  near  the  brim  of  the  river.  At  a  little  distance 
from  this  drary  (sic)  cavern  is  a  burying  place  of  several  bands  of  the 
Naudowessie  Indians."  (Carver's  Travels,  Boston  ed.  [1797],  p.  39. 
The  cave  was  also  visited  by  Pike,  in  1807.  See  Coues'  Pike's  Expedition, 
p.  198  et  seq.)  Naudowessie  was  the  ancient  term  applied  to  the  Sioux 
Indians. 

*°  Muscavado — unrefined  sugar. 


34  Journal  of  S.  W.  Kearny. 

tho^  generally  it  was  not  more  than  2  foot — The  stones  we 
found  at  the  bottom  had  a  mixture  of  iron  in  them .  The  air 
was  quite  cold,  &  the  farther  we  advanced,  the  more  plainly 
could  we  hear  the  roaring  of  the  waters  from  within,  like 
distant  Thunder. 

The  passengers  in  the  boat,  being  desirous  to  proceed  with 
as  little  delay  as  possible,  we  returned  to  it,  not  however  with 
our  curiosity  gratified,  as  we  had  wished  to  penetrate  'till 
stopped  by  difficulties  we  could  not  overcome. 

Four  miles  below,  reached  Le  Petit  Corheau's*^  village  of 
Sioux  of  11  lodges,  at  the  head  of  an  Island,  &  a  short  dis- 
tance below  a  high  ridge  of  Limestone  Rock,  where  we  stopped 
a  few  minutes  to  trade  for  corn;  Five  miles  further  brought 
us  to  the  "Painted  Rock,"  on  the  East  shore,  having  Tobacco^ 
quills  &c.,  &c.,  scattered  round;  which  the  Indians  consider 
a  Great  Spirit,  &  to  which  they,  when  passing,  make  presents. 

In  descending  the  river  grows  narrower,  &  at  some  places 
cannot  be  more  than  200  yards  wide —  The  E.  shore  is 
generally  bounded  by  high  banks,  the  W.  with  low  lands,  well 

*^  Le  Petit  Corbeau  ("Little  Crow"),  hereditary  chief  of  the  Kapoja 
band.  The  name  was  borne  by  successive  individuals  through  several 
generations.  This  chief  was  in  the  council  of  Sioux  that  treated  with  Pike 
in  1805  for  the  sale  of  the  land  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Peter's  as  a  site  for 
the  fort.  (Coues'  Pike's  Expedition,  pp.  82-84.)  He  was  in  the  War  of 
1812,  serving  with  the  other  Sioux  chiefs  already  mentioned,  at  the  attack 
on  Fort  Sandusky.  ("Grignon's  Recollections,"  Wis.  Hist.  Colls.,  iii, 
pp.  269-70.)  Major  Forsyth,  who  accompanied  Leavenworth  on  the  trip 
up  the  Mississippi  in  1819  to  found  the  post  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Peter's, 
in  a  letter  to  Gov.  Clark  mentions  visiting  Little  Crow's  village  "at  a 
place  called  the  Grand  Marie,  being  23  leagues  above  the  Red  Wing's 
village,  and  within  five  leagues  of  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Peter's  River. 
Here  I  found  in  the  Little  Crow  a  steady,  generous  and  independent  In- 
dian; he  acknowledged  the  sale  of  the  land  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Peter's 
River  to  the  United  States,  and  said  he  had  been  looking  every  year  since 
the  sale  for  the  troops  to  build  a  fort,  and  was  now  happy  to  see  us  all,  as 
the  Sioux  would  now  have  their  Father  with  them."  {Wis.  Hist.  Colls., 
vi,  p.  217.)  Little  Crow  made  a  visit  to  Washington  in  1824.  References 
to  him  may  be  found  in  "Occurrences  in  and  Around  Fort  Snelling," 
Minn.  Hist.  Colls.,  ii,  p.  27;  Neill's  History  of  Minnesota,  pp.  292 
and  326;  Forsyth's  Journal,  Wis.  Hist.  Colls.,  vi,  p.  205  et  seq.,  "Docu- 
ments Relating  to  the  Carver  Grant,"  ibid.,  p.  252  et  seq.;  and  Keating's 
Long's  Expedition,  p.  283  et  seq. 


The  Council  Bluff— St.  Peter's  Exploration  {1820.)      35 

timbered — Reached  the  St.  Croix  river  about  dusk,  100  yards 
wide,  flowing  in  on  the  E.  side  &  being  about  the  width  of 
the  Mississippi,  at  the  junction,  &  its  course  not  varying  much, 
it  has  frequently  been  by  strangers  mistaken  for  that  river, 
&  ascended  some  distance,  'ere  the  error  was  detected — 
dropped  anchor  in  the  middle  of  the  stream,  a  few  yards 
below,  for  the  night. 

July  SOth,  Sunday. 

Weighed  anchor  at  4  A.M.  at  which  time  there  was  a  thick 
fog  on  the  river,  but  which  was  dispersed  at  7 —  Passed 
"Red  Wing'^  (he  who  had  treated  us  so  politely  at  his  village 
on  the  22nd  inst)  ascending  the  river  in  a  canoe  with  his 
squaw,  who  immediately  recognized  me,  made  them  some 
presents,  &  proceding  passed,  at  10  A.M.,  the  mouth  of  the 
Cannon  river,  25  yards  wide,  &  soon  reached  the  Indian  vil- 
lage where  we  were  oversaken  by  ''Red  Wing''  &  halting  the 
boat,  we  accompanied  him  to  his  lodge,  &  remained  a  few 
minutes —  Reached  ''Lake  Pepin"  (an  expansion  of  the 
Mississippi,  &  from  1  to  3  miles  wide)  at  noon.  This  Lake 
is  considered  (on  account  of  having  no  harbors,  &  the  water 
easily  disturbed  by  winds)  very  dangerous  to  navigate;  & 
but  few  Boatmen,  should  there  be  the  least  wind,  would  con- 
sent to  undertake  to  cross  it:  The  weather  being  clear  and 
calm,  we  apprehended  no  difficulty —  Passed  a  point  of 
Rocks^^  on  the  E.  shore  200  feet  above  the  surface  of  the 
water,  from  which,  (as  'tis  reported)  a  squaw''^  being  attached 
to  one  Indian  &  betrothed  by  her  parents  to  another,  in  a  fit 
of  despair  took  "the  lover's  Leap,"  and  thus  fell  a  sacrifice 
to  a  feeling  of  sentiment  very  rarely  to  be  found  amongst 

^  "  Maiden's  Rock "  is  the  name  by  which  this  point  was  known.  A 
picture  of  it  engraved  by  Seymour  appears  in  Keating 's  Long's  Expedi- 
tion, i,  at  p.  84,  and  a  much  better  one  in  Mrs.  Mary  Eastman's  Dahcotah: 
or  Life  and  Legends  of  the  Sioux  Around  Fort  Snelling.  (N,  Y.,  1849),  p. 
165. 

^^  Winona,  which  signifies  "the  first  born  daughter,"  is  supposed  to 
have  been  the  name  of  the  "squaw"  referred  to  by  Kearny.  Tradition, 
of  course,  describes  her  as  "a  beauteous  young  Indian  maiden."  Her 
story  is  told  at  length  by  Keating,  i,  p.  280. 


36  Journal  of  S.  W.  Kearny. 

savages.  Below  this  our  boat  stopped  for  a  short  time  & 
several  curious  specimens  of  Copper,  FUnt,  Iron  &  Carnelion 
were  found.  We  here  observed  large  branches  of  trees,  of 
the  size  of  a  common  man's  body,  much  bent,  &  of  a  blackish 
color,  &  upon  close  examination  found  them  to  be  covered 
with  bugs  or  flies  li  inches  long  with  small  bodies — shaking 
the  branches,  they  recovered  their  green  appearance  &  erect 
positions,  these  insects  leaving  them,  which  we  found  per- 
fectly innocent  &  harmless  Arrived  at  the  lower  end  of  the 
Lake  (which  is  22  miles  long)  at  11  P.M.  where  we  anchored, 
in  middle  of  the  stream.  In  the  lake  we  found  no  current, 
tho'  elsewhere  in  the  river  the  water  generally  runs  from  1 
to  3  nots  per  hour;  which  we  find  of  great  assistance,  in  as 
much  as  we  have  a  boat  of  30  Tons,  &  as  yet  having  had  but 
little  wind  to  favor  us,  we  are  oblidged  to  depend  upon  our 
oarsmen  12  in  number. 

July  Slst. 

At 4  A.M.,  with  a  heavy  fog,  weighed  anchor,  passed  Chippe- 
way  river  on  the  East  &  The  Great  Encampment^^  on  the  W 
side;  This  takes  its  name  from  the  circumstance  of  almost  all 
the  traders  stopping  here  either  in  as-  or  descending  the  river, 
for  the  purpose  of  hunting,  drying  or  airing  their  goods  or  bag- 
gage, or  refitting  &  overhauling  their  boats;  passed  ''Prairie 
Le  Aisle,"^^at  the  bottom  of  which  we  found  "Wabasha's"*^ 

**  "Great  [or  Grand]  Encampment."  There  is  a  dispute  among  his- 
torians as  to  whether  or  not  the  "  fortifications  "  mentioned  by  Capt.  Carver 
in  his  Travels  (p.  54  of  the  London  ed.),  went  by  this  name.  Long's  party 
decided  against  it.  (Keating,  i,  pp.  276-78.)  Kearny's  version  of  the 
origin  of  the  name  is  probably  right. 

*^  "Prairie  Le  Aisle,"  a  meaningless  phrase  as  it  stands,  and  open  to 
various  renderings,  as  L'Aile,  L'Ail,  or  L'lle.  Pike's  text  (1807),  p.  12, 
has  "L'aile."     (See  Coues'  Pike,  i,  p.  54,  note  57.) 

^  Wabasha  was  one  of  the  principal  Sioux  chiefs,  being  considered  the 
head  of  the  seventeen  bands  of  that  tribe  residing  south  of  the  St.  Peter's 
River.  (Wis.  Hist.  Colls.,  xi,  p.  214.)  The  name  was  borne  by  three 
chiefs  in  successive  generations,  and  is  derived  from  "wapa"  (a  leaf)  and 
"sha"  (red),  meaning  "red  leaf."  The  Indian  name  has  been  spelled  in 
a  variety  of  ways,  but  the  one  given  was  the  most  common.  In  French 
it  was  usually  "La  Feuille,"  and  in  English  "The  Leaf,"  each  without  the 
adjective.    Wabasha  I  was  famous  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  was 


The  Council  Bluff— St.  Peter's  Exploration  {1820.)      37 

Indian  village;  of  10  lodges;  stopped  &  visited  him, 
he  then  came   on  board  our  boat,  bringing  with  him  an 

regarded  as  the  head  of  the  Sioux  Nation.  Wabasha  II,  his  son,  is  the  one 
mentioned  above,  a  chief  equally  great,  who  grew  in  credit  and  renown 
with  years.  He  led  the  whole  Sioux  contingent  in  the  War  of  1812.  His 
influence  over  the  other  chiefs  probably  gained  for  him  this  honor.  And 
yet  he  professed  not  to  be  a  warrior,  believing  that  Indians  could  prosper 
only  at  peace  with  one  another  and  with  the  whites.  He  seems  to  have 
been  induced  to  join  the  fortunes  of  the  British  against  his  inclination. 
After  the  war  the  Indians  were  left  in  a  wretched  condition,  and  in  conse- 
quence were  much  downcast.  Gen.  Cass  preserved  a  touching  speech  of 
Wabasha's,  made  at  Drummond's  Island  in  1815,  when  Col.  McDowell, 
the  British  commander,  offered  him  some  presents.  "My  father,"  he 
said,  "what  is  this  I  see  before  me?  A  few  knives  and  blankets.  Is  this 
all  you  promised  us  at  the  beginning  of  the  war?  Where  are  those  prom- 
ises you  made  us  at  Michilimackinac,  and  sent  to  our  villages  on  the 
Mississippi?  You  told  us  you  would  never  let  fall  the  hatchet  until  the 
Americans  were  driven  beyond  the  mountains;  that  our  British  father 
would  never  make  peace  without  consulting  his  red  children.  Has  that 
come  to  pass?  We  never  knew  of  this  peace.  We  are  now  told  it  was 
made  by  our  great  father  beyond  the  water,  without  the  knowledge  of 
his  war-chiefs;  that  it  is  our  duty  to  obey  his  orders.  What  is  this  to 
us?  Will  these  paltry  presents  pay  for  the  men  we  have  lost?  *  *  * 
Will  they  soothe  the  feelings  of  our  friends?  Will  they  make  good  your 
promises  to  us?  For  myself,  I  am  an  old  man.  I  have  lived  long,  and 
always  found  the  means  of  supporting  myself,  and  I  can  so  still."  {Wis. 
Hist.  Colls.,  ii,  p.  194,  note.)  Two  years  later  he  was  visited  at  his  village 
by  Maj.  Long,  who  says  of  him:  "He  is  considered  one  of  the  most  honest 
and  honorable  of  any  of  the  Indians,  and  endeavors  to  inculcate  into  the 
minds  of  his  people  the  sentiments  and  principles  adopted  by  himself." 
(Long's  Skiff  Voyage  (1817),  Minn.  Hist.  Colls.,  ii,  p.  7.)  He  was  seen  in 
1820  by  Gen.  Henry  Whiting,  who  describes  him  as  a  small  man  with  a 
patch  over  one  eye,  who  nevertheless  impressed  everyone  with  respect, 
and  whose  profile  was  said  to  resemble  that  of  the  illustrious  Conde. 
"While  with  us  at  Prairie  du  Chien,"  says  Whiting,  "he  never  moved  or 
was  seen  without  his  pipe-bearer.  His  people  treated  him  with  reverence. 
Unlike  all  other  speakers  in  council,  he  spoke  sitting,  considering,  it  was 
said,  that  he  was  called  upon  to  stand  only  in  the  presence  of  his  great 
father  at  Washington,  or  his  representative  at  St.  Louis."  (Coues'  Pike's 
Expedition,  p.  44.)  It  will  be  noticed  above,  in  the  text  of  the  journal, 
that  he  seated  himself  before  addressing  Kearny's  party.  This  was  the 
year  following  the  establishment  of  the  military  post  at  the  mouth  of  the 
St.  Peter's  above  Wabasha's  village.  From  the  speech  we  gather  that  he 
had  not  yet  become  accustomed  to  the  idea  of  having  the  Americans  on 
the  river  above  him,  although  he  himself  had  been  a  party  to  the  cession 
of  the  land  to  the  United  States  some  years  before.  A  few  years  later, 
however,  he  seems  to  have  become  reconciled,  for  Keating  chronicles 


38  Journal  of  S.  W.  Kearny. 

Indian  (a  brother-in-law  of  Col.  Dickson/^  a  celebrated  Brit- 
ish trader)  who  understood  French,  &  by  whom  we  were 
enabled  to  hold  a  conversation. 

The  question  as  to  the  number  of  his  band  having  been  in- 
advertently put  to  him,  he  immediately  appeared  to  be  some- 
what excited,  &  rising,  he  took  a  glass  of  water  (as  if  to  pre- 
pare himself),  then  throwing  his  blanket  over  his  left  shoulder 
&  arm,  his  right  one  remaining  bare,  he  reseated  himself,  & 
commenced  a  speech  which  lasted  for  5  minutes,  displaying 
a  great  fluency  of  words  &  accompanied  with  the  most  easy 
&  graceful  gestures. — 

The  substance  of  ''Wabasha's"  speech,  as  interpreted, 
was  ''That  he  did  not  relish  the  idea  of  the  Whites  being  on 
the  river  above  him;  That  he  wished  them  to  remove;  That 
he  could  not  force  them,  but  unless  they  did,  he  would  com- 
plain to  his  "Great  Father."  This  W.  is  a  great  &  powerful 
chief,  &  for  many  years  has  been  distinguished  on  this  river. 

Leaving  his  village,  we  continued  to  "La  Montague  qui 

(1823):  "His  disposition  to  the  Americans  has  generally  been  a  friendly- 
one,  and  his  course  of  policy  is  well  spoken  of."  (Keating's  Long's  Ex- 
pedition, i,  p.  250)  "He  was  then  about  50  years  old,"  says  Keating, 
"but  appears  older;  his  prominent  features  are  good  and  indicative  of 
great  acuteness  and  of  a  prying  disposition;  his  stature  is  low;  he  has 
long  been  one  of  the  most  influential  of  the  Dacota  [Sioux]  Indians,  more, 
perhaps,  from  his  talents  in  the  council  than  his  achievements  in  the  field. 
He  is  represented  as  being  a  wise  and  prudent  man,  a  forcible  and  im- 
pressive orator."  (ibid.)  Beltrami,  the  imaginative  Italian  traveler, 
who  idealized  all  the  Indians  he  saw,  said  Wabasha's  "appearance  was 
that  of  a  great  statesman,  wanting  nothing  to  complete  the  resemblance 
but  an  embroidered  coat,  a  large  portfolio  under  his  arm,  and  spectacles." 
(Beltrami's  Pilgrimage,  ii,  p.  181.)  Wabasha's  village  was  on  the  site  of 
the  present  Winona,  Minn.  For  Wabasha  III,  his  successor,  see  note  50, 
infra. 

^'  Robert  Dickson  was  an  Englishman  who  began  to  trade  with  the 
Sioux  as  early  as  1790,  and  acquired  much  fame  in  the  early  history  of 
the  country.  He  took  a  prominent  part  in  encouraging  the  Western 
tribes  to  take  up  arms  against  the  Americans.  Yet  he  was  instrumental 
in  saving  many  Americans  from  barbarous  treatment  at  the  hands  of 
the  savages.  In  1817  he  was  brought  to  St.  Louis  a  prisoner,  charged 
with  alienating  the  Sioux  from  the  United  States,  in  complicity  with  Lord 
Selkirk.  He  was  soon  afterward  released  and  allowed  to  return  to  Canada. 
(See  Minn.  Hist.  Colls.,  i,  2d  ed  1872,  p.  390,  and  Coues'  Pike's  Expe- 
dition, p.  117,  note  23.) 


WABASHA  II. 
Sioux  Chief. 


The  Council  Bluff— St.  Peter's  Exploration  {1820.)      39 

Trempe  a  FEau"^^  (the  mountain  which  soaks  in  the  river) 
where  we  anchored  for  the  night —  This  mountain  is  near 
the  E  shore,  nearly  two  miles  in  circumference,  &  upwards 
of  200  feet  elevation  above  the  surface  of  the  water,  &  having 
a  river,^^  falling  in  to  the  Mississ.  in  its  rear. 

This  river  we  have  hitherto  found  beautifully  diversified 
with  Islands,  of  a  variety  of  shapes  &  dimensions,  &  its  banks 
offering  to  the  eye  much  picturesque  &  interesting  scenery — 
Today,  particularly,  we  have  seen  on  the  W  shore,  for  several 
miles,  a  succession  of  hills,  about  200  feet  high,  &  a  thousand, 
long,  well  timbered,  on  their  sides  &  front,  but  Tops  bare,  in 
the  shape  of  immense  buildings  &  very  regular,  &  divided  or 
separated  by  ravines,  50  feet  wide,  leading  to  the  river. 

August  \st. 

Started  at  4  A.M. — passed  Black  river  to  the  East  about 
100  yards  wide  at  its  mouth;  met  a  canoe  with  6  Indians 
ascending  the  river;  they  came  on  board,  &  one  we  found  to 
be  a  nephew^^  of  Wabasha,  treated  them  with  some  whiskey, 

*^  Carver  says:  "About  sixty  miles  below  this  Lake  [Pepin]  is  a  moun- 
tain remarkably  situated;  for  it  stands  by  itself  exactly  in  the  middle  of 
the  river,  and  looks  as  if  it  had  slidden  from  the  adjacent  shore  into  the 
stream.  It  cannot  be  termed  an  island,  as  it  rises  immediately  from  the 
brink  of  the  water  to  a  considerable  height.  Both  the  Indians  and  the 
French  call  it  the  Mountain  in  the  River."  (Carver's  Travels,  Boston  ed. 
1797,  p.  39.) 

*^  The  river  is  now  known  as  the  "Trempealeau,"  and  runs  through  the 
county  of  the  same  name  in  Wisconsin. 

^°  The  nephew  of  Wabasha,  here  mentioned,  may  have  been  the  one  who 
succeeded  him  as  Wabasha  III.  Although  Coues  speaks  of  Wabasha  III 
as  the  son  of  the  old  chief,  and  says  he  resided  at  the  village  below  Lake 
Pepin,  we  have  the  authority  of  Long,  who  met  both  the  old  chief  and 
his  designated  successor,  that  the  latter  was  a  nephew.  He  says:  "Met 
the  nephew  of  La  Feuille  [Wabasha]  and  another  Indian,  who  were  on  a 
hunting  expedition.  My  interpreter  informed  the  nephew,  who  is  to 
succeed  his  uncle  in  the  office  of  chief,  that  a  party  of  the  Sioux  Indians  of 
his  village  had  followed  us,  to  beg  whiskey,  after  we  had  given  them  all 
we  thought  it  prudent  to  part  with.  He  appeared  much  offended  that 
they  should  have  done  so,  and  eagerly  inquired  if  his  uncle  was  not  at 
home  to  restrain  them.  We  gave  them  some  tobacco  and  whiskey  and 
left  them."  (Long's  Skiff  Voyage  (1817),  Minn.  Hist.  Colls,  ii.,  p.  21.) 
Wabasha  III  resided  at  the  village  mentioned  till  1853,  and  in  1872  was 
living  on  the  Niobrara  Reservation.     (Coues'  Pike,  p.  44,  note  50.) 


40  Journal  of  S.  W.  Kearny, 

when  they  left  us—  Passed  ''Prairie  Le  Cross;"  (so  called 
from  the  circumstance  of  a  game  of  ball  by  that  name  being 
frequently  played  by  the  Indians  at  that  place)  The  Prairie 
commences  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  of  that  name,  about  15 
yards  wide,  &  extends,  on.  the  E.  shore,  about  a  mile,  & 
bounded  in  the  rear  by  high  hills  and  cliffs,  a  mile  from  the 
Mississippi —  Saw  several  geese  &  PeHcans,  many  of  which 
we  fired  at,  but  without  success — The  afternoon,  quite  warm, 
&  at  5  P.M.  passed  the  grave  of  an  Indian  interpreter,  who 
had  been  drowned  last  summer,  &  whose  body  about  20  days 
subsequently  was  found,  suspended  to  some  branches  of  a 
tree,  by  some  of  the  5th  Inf'y,  was  recognized  and  interred 
at  this  place — •'^' 

The  Sand  bars  in  this  river  we  find  to  inconvenience  [us] 
very  much;  for  it  is  impossible,  even  with  the  greatest  care, 
to  prevent  running  on  them  &  we  are  then  detained  consider- 
ably, ere  we  can  get  off.  Passed  the  Iowa  river  on  the  West 
at  9  P.M.,  &  all  on  board  being  desirous  of  proceding  tonight, 
we  continued,  winding  our  course  with  the  turns  of  the  chan- 
nel of  the  river. 

August  2nd. 

At  4  A.M.  passed  Yellow  river,  20  yards  wide,  on  the  West, 
&  at  5  reached  ''Prairie  Du  Chien,"  where  we  found  two 
companies  of  the  5th  Regt.  established  in  comfortable  bar- 
racks, 100  yards  square,  with  2  block  houses  at  opposite  angles, 
&  200  yards  from  the  water — 

The  village  of  Prairie  Du  Chien,  which  was  first  estabhshed 
by  the  French  from  Canada  in  1770,  for  the  purpose  of  trade 

"  That  part  of  the  5th  Infantry  which  established  the  post  at  the  mouth 
of  the  St.  Peter's,  under  command  of  Col.  Leavenworth,  had  passed  here 
the  summer  before  on  its  way  up  the  river.  Maj.  Thos.  Forsyth,  an  In- 
dian agent  who  accompanied  the  expedition,  kept  a  journal  of  their  voyage. 
He  records  that  they  left  Prairie  du  Chien  8  Aug.,  1819.  An  entry  made 
the  following  day,  when  they  must  have  reached  the  point  mentioned  by 
Kearny,  contains  this  statement:  "We  this  day  found  the  body  of  A. 
Aunger,  and  buried  it."  {Wis.  Hist.  Colls.,  vi,  p.  201.)  We  may  reason- 
ably infer  this  to  have  been  the  unfortunate  interpreter  whose  grave 
Kearny  noted. 


The  Council  Bluff—St.  Peter's  Exploration  {1820.)     41 

or  traffic  with  the  Indians,  is  on  the  E.  bank  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, 5  miles  by  water  above  the  mouth  of  the  Ouisconsin — 
It  is  the  most  advanced  white  settlement  on  this  river  &  may 
consist  of  100  houses,  lying  in  3  different  detachments — 
These  houses  are  of  logs,  &  are  much  better  calculated  to 
resist  the  heat  of  the  summer  than  the  winter  cold —  The 
Inhabitants  about  500,  mostly  French,  very  hospitable,  & 
pleased  to  see  and  entertain  strangers.^^ 

The  Prairie  on  which  the  village  is  built  extends  for  some 
miles  on  the  river,  &  is  bounded  in  the  rear  by  hills  400  feet 
high,  two  miles  distant  from  the  water;  about  midway  up 
these  hills  runs  a  ledge  of  rocks  &  many  other  indications  are 
to  be  seen,  to  lead  to  the  conclusion  of  their  having  once  been 
the  boundary  of  the  river. 

We  were  politely  received  by  the  officers  at  this  Post,  & 
our  baggage  having  been  carried  into  the  Cantonment,  we 
were  invited  to  live  at  the  Mess  during  our  stay  at  the  Post.^^ 

*2  Prairie  du  Chien  village  began  as  a  rendezvous  for  Indians  of  various 
tribes  who  came  thither  to  trade  with  one  another.  By  common  consent 
the  place  was  regarded  as  neutral  ground,  where  the  different  tribes, 
however  hostile  to  one  another,  might  visit  and  trade  in  safety.  The 
French  began  to  settle  there  in  1737,  much  earlier  than  Kearny  says, 
and  set  up  a  trading  post.  He  overestimated  the  size  of  the  town.  Ac- 
cording to  the  statements  of  Judge  Lockwood,  a  pioneer  citizen,  and  of 
Maj.  Long,  who  made  a  careful  count,  it  had  probably  not  over  200  people. 
Nearly  all  of  French  blood,  inmixed  with  Indian,  they  were  good  Indian 
traders  and  voyagers,  but  not  very  enterprising  citizens.  Not  until  1835, 
after  the  Indian  troubles  had  subsided,  did  the  Americans  settle  there  in 
any  considerable  number  and  make  it  a  self-respecting  town.  (See  Lock- 
wood's  "Early  Times  in  Wisconsin,"  Wis.  Hist.  Colls.,  ii,  pp.  114  et  seq.) 

^^  "Fort  Crawford"  was  the  name  of  the  post.  It  was  built  in  1816  by 
the  Rifle  Regiment,  on  the  same  spot,  the  top  of  a  mound,  where  had  stood 
a  stockade  of  the  same  name,  erected  by  the  Americans  in  1814,  captured 
by  the  British  and  held  by  them  till  the  peace  of  1815.  During  the  several 
years  intervening  between  the  completion  of  the  fort  and  the  time  Kearny 
wrote,  the  commanding  officer  of  the  post  was  Lieutenant-Colonel  Wil- 
loughby  Morgan,  the  senior  officer  accompanying  our  party.  The  fort 
was  abandoned  in  1826  through  the  instrumentality  of  Col.  Snelling,  who 
disliked  Prairie  du  Chien  for  differences  he  had  had  with  some  of  its  prin- 
cipal inhabitants,  and  the  troops  were  removed  to  Fort  Snelling.  The 
following  year,  on  account  of  fresh  Indian  troubles,  two  companies  were 
returned.  The  fort  was  thereafter  continuously  garrisoned  till  1831,  when 
a  newer  fort  of  the  same  name  was  erected  in  another  part  of  the  town. 


42  Journal  of  S.  W.  Kearny. 

August  3d. 

Passed  the  day  partly  in  Camp  &  partly  in  the  village — 
In  the  evening  visited  some  Wig  Warns  where  I  found  a  very 
pretty  squaw,  who  during  my  visit  fell  into  fits. 

This  afternoon  about  30  of  the  principal  warriors  &  leading 
men  of  the  Winnebagos  arrived  at  the  village. 

August  4tth. 

Having  exchanged  boats,  &  obtained  one  of  about  12  Tons, 
with  6  oarsmen,  left  Prairie  Du  Chien  at  9  A.M.,  with  a 
fresh  &  fair  breeze —  Passed  the  Ouisconsin  river  on  the 
East. 

This  river  is  about  600  yards  wide  at  its  mouth,  &  con- 
nected with  the  Fox  river,  (between  which,  there  is  but  one 
mile  portage)  forms  the  communication  from  the  Upper 
Lakes  to  the  Mississippi.  Passed  Turkey  River  on  the  W, 
&  two  miles  below  on  the  East  shore  an  old  deserted  village 
of  the  Sioux,  20  lodges,  on  a  handsome  Prairie  &  bounded  in 
the  rear  by  high  Prairie  hills —  During  the  day  had  frequent 
showers  of  rain — saw  many  PeHcans,  which  at  a  distance 
make  a  very  handsome  shew — 

Having  no  cabouse  on  board,  we  were  obliged  to  put  to, 
at  7  P.M.  (on  the  W.  shore,  under  a  high  bluff)  to  allow  our 
men  to  get  their  suppers  in  good  season — 

After  dark  endeavored  to  gig  some  fish,  but  were  not  able 
to  succeed — put  out  our  lines,  but  to  no  purpose — made  to- 
day about  40  miles. 

August  5th. 

The  mosquitoes  we  found  last  night  very  troublesome — 
Started  at  4  A.M.  passed  "Bear  Creek"  on  the  West  &  at 
breakfast  time  stopped  at  a  small  Island,  where  we  saw  a 
large  flock  of  pigeons,  &  secured  8  of  them  for  our  dinner. 
At  10  A.M.  stopped  at  a  settlement  of  traders,  (where  we 

(Lockwood.)  (See  also  Long's  Voyage  of  1817,  Minn.  Hist.  Colls.,  ii. 
p.  52  et  seq.)  The  commanding  officer  at  the  time  of  Kearny's  visit  was 
Capt.  J.  Fowle,  5th  Infantry.  He  is  mentioned  by  Schoolcraft,  who  came 
along,  with  Gov.  Cass,  just  three  days  after  Keamy. 


The  Council  Bluff— St.  Peter's  Exploration  {1820.)      43 

found  Dr.  Muir/^  late  of  the  army,  with  his  squaw  &  2  chil- 
dren) opposite  a  '^Fox  village"  of  17  lodges,  &  100  Inhabi- 
tants—  On  a  high  hill,  at  one  end  of  the  village,  we  saw  a 
small  building,  covering  the  remains  of  Mr.  Dubuque,^^  who 

"  Samuel  C.  Muir,  born  in  District  of  Columbia,  became  a  sm-geon's 
mate  in  the  1st  Infantry,  7  April,  1813,  and  was  honorably  discharged  15 
June,  1815.  He  was  reinstated  13  Sept.,  1815,  in  the  8th  Infantry;  be- 
came a  hospital  surgeon's  mate  31  Oct.,  1817;  a  post  surgeon  18  April, 
1818,  and  resigned  1  Aug.,  1818.  He  again  became  a  post  surgeon  28 
Sept.,  1818,  but  was  dropped  for  good  27  July,  1819.  Col.  John  Shaw, 
in  his  "Personal  Narrative,"  says:  "About  this  period  [1815]  Dr.  Muir, 
of  the  United  States  Army,  whom  I  had  seen  at  Fort  Johnston  in  1814, 
was  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  when  his  life  was  threatened,  and  he  was  saved 
by  a  young  Sauk  squaw,  whom  he  married,  and  by  whom  he  raised  a 
family.  Dr.  Muir  often  related  to  me  the  incidents  of  his  wife's  heroism 
in  saving  him,  but  the  particulars  I  have  forgotten.  Like  most  persons 
connected  with  the  army,  he  was  too  fond  of  liquor;  otherwise  he  might 
have  risen  to  distinction  and  usefulness."  {Wis.  Hist.  Colls.,  ii,  p.  224.) 
A  note  on  the  foregoing,  by  L,  C.  D  [raper] ,  says  Muir  was  a  Scotchman, 
a  good  physician,  who  had  been  educated  at  Edinburgh;  that  while  trad- 
ing with  the  Winnebagoes  a  plan  was  concocted  to  kill  him,  "when  a 
young  squaw  apprised  him  of  it,  and  secreted  him  in  a  cave  and  supplied 
him  with  food  till  the  alarm  passed  away.  In  gratitude  to  his  deliverer, 
he  took  her  with  him  as  his  wife,  and  settled  at  Galena  and  raised  several 
children.  Dr.  Muir  was  afterwards  among  the  first  settlers  at  Keokuk, 
where  he  carried  on  the  Indian  trade,  and  where  he  died  [24  Sept.,  1832], 
after  which  his  family  joined  the  Indians.' '  (ibid.) 

^  JuLiEN  Dubuque  is  the  man  for  whom  Dubuque,  Iowa,  is  named.  His 
ancestor,  Jean  Baptiste  Dubuc,  born  in  1641  in  Trinity  Parish,  Diocese  of 
Rouen,  son  of  Pierre  Dubuc  and  Marie  Hotot,  married  Francoise  L'Arche- 
veque  in  1668  at  Quebec.  Their  son  Romain,  baptised  in  1671,  married  in 
1693  Anne  Pinel.  Their  son  Noel-Augustin,  baptised  in  1707,  married  in 
1744  Marie  Mailhot.  Their  son  Julien  was  baptised  in  1762  at  Saint- 
Pierre-les-Becquets.  Julien  Dubuque  emigrated  to  the  province  of 
Louisiana  in  1774  and  settled  at  Prairie  du  Chien  in  1785.  He  very 
soon  obtained  great  influence  over  the  Indians,  for  he  became  familiar  with 
their  conjurations  and  magic.  He  learned  of  the  existence  of  the  lead 
mines  on  the  west  of  the  Mississippi,  discovered  in  1780  by  the  wife  of  the 
chief  Peosta,  of  the  Foxes.  Realizing  the  value  of  the  discovery  he  tried 
to  obtain  a  grant  of  the  land  from  the  Indians,  who  had  steadfastly  refused 
to  make  concession  to  any  white  man.  By  means  of  his  almost  super- 
natural power,  as  the  Indians  believed,  he  succeeded  in  securing  a  grant  of 
seven  leagues  along  the  Mississippi  River  and  three  leagues  in  depth,  at 
a  grand  council  of  the  Indians,  held  at  Prairie  du  Chien  in  1788.  The  loca- 
tion of  the  grant  was  about  500  miles  above  St.  Louis.  To  gain  the  good- 
will of  the  Spanish  possessors  of  the  soil  he  named  the  plant  "The  Mines  of 
Spain",  and  in  1796  sent  a  petition  to  the  Governor  of  Louisiana,  Baron  de 


44  Journal  of  S.W.  Kearny. 

died  in  1808,  &  who  obtained  from  the  Spanish  government 
(previous  to  the  cession  of  this  country  to  the  Americans) 
the  title  to  the  ''Lead  Mines,"  which  commence  one  mile 
from  this  place —  These  mines  are  at  present  partially  worked 
by  5  or  6  of  the  ''Fox  Indians." 

We  were  politely  received  by  Dr.  M.  &  the  traders —  On 
leaving  them,  passed  two  canoes,  with  Indians,  descending 
the  river,  &  were  accosted  by  them  with  ''How  de  do,  How  de 
do,  How  de  do"  a  salutation  I  find  every  Indian  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi acquainted  with — 

Landed,  at  dark,  on  a  sand  beach,  on  the  E.  shore — put  our 
hook  &  line,  &  caught  the  largest  Eel  I  ever  saw. 

August  Qth,    Sunday. 

Proceded,  at  4  A.M.,  with  a  strong  head  wind —  Passed  a 
Keel  Boat,  from  St.  Louis,  on  its  way  to  Prairie  Du  Chien, 

Carondelet,  setting  forth  his  claims.  It  was  referred  to  Andrew  Todd,  who 
had  a  monopoly  of  the  Indian  trade  of  the  upper  Mississippi.  Todd  re- 
plied that  he  saw  no  reason  why  Dubuque  should  not  be  given  the  land 
provided  he  would  not  trade  with  the  Indians  without  Todd's  consent. 
Dubuque  then  proceeded  to  operate  the  mines,  using  Indian  labor.  It  is 
said  that  such  was  his  influence  that  he  made  the  Indians  work.  Out  of 
his  lead  and  peltries,  which  he  shipped  semi-annually  to  St.  Louis,  he 
amassed  a  large  fortune.  Nearly  all  early  travelers  upon  the  Mississippi 
visited  his  mines.  He  died  in  1810.  His  devoted  Indians  followed  his 
body  to  the  grave  in  a  wailing  procession,  and  for  years  thereafter 
it  is  said  they  placed  a  lighted  torch  on  it  every  night.  Certain  of  them 
dutifully  made  annual  pilgrimages  to  the  tomb.  (Les  Canadiens  de  L'Ouest 
par  Joseph  Tasse,  Montreal,  1878,  pp.  239-62.)  A  visit  to  it  by  Thomas 
L.  McKenney  is  thus  described  in  his  article  "The  V^innebago  War  of  1827  " 
{Wis.  Hist.  Colls.,  v.,  p.  202):  "Arriving  at  DuBuques  sixty  miles  below 
the  Prairie,  we  stopped,  and  visited  the  grave.  This  grave  is  on  a  high 
bluff,  or  point  of  land,  formed  by  the  junction  of  the  Black  River 
with  the  Mississippi,  on  the  West  side  of  the  latter.  A  village  of  Fox  In- 
dians occupied  the  low  lands  south  of  the  bluff — of  these  Indians  we  pro- 
cured the  guide  who  piloted  us  to  DuBuque's  last  resting  place.  The 
ascent  was  rather  fatiguing.  Over  the  grave  was  a  stone,  covered  with  a 
roof  of  wood.  Upon  the  stone  was  a  cross  on  which  was  carved  in  rude 
letters  '  Julien  DuBuque,  died  24th  March,  1810,  aged  45  years.'  Nearby 
was  the  burial  spot  of  an  Indian  Chief."  (See  also  "Indian  Chiefs  and 
Pioneers  of  the  North- West,"  by  Col.  John  Shaw,  Wis.  Hist.  Colls.,  x.,  p. 
221,  Schoolcraft's  Discovery  of  the  Sources  of  the  Mississippi,  Phil.  Ed., 
1855,  p.  169,  and  Dubuque  Claim  [pamphlet],  St.  Louis,  1845.) 


The  Council  Bluff— St.  Peter's  Exploration  {1820.)      45 

belonging  to  ''Mr.  Johnson/®  the  Factor,"  loaded  with  stores, 
&c.,  &c.,  Saw  on  the  W.  shore  several  deserted  Lodges,  & 
near  them  a  furnace,  where  the  "Foxes"  run  their  Lead, 
they  having  mines  in  this  vicinity —  Shortly  afterwards 
passed  the  mouth  of  the  ''Wapibisinekaw,"  about  150  yards 
wide,  &  flowing  in  to  the  Mississippi  from  the  West.  Near 
this  we  saw  many  geese  but  could  not  approach  to  within 
shooting  distance,  &  a  flock  of  3  or  400  Pelicans,  one  of 
which  was  shot,  but  he  recovered  &  flew  off  'ere  we  reached 
him. 

The  Banks  of  the  river  &  the  Lands  in  the  rear  have  as- 
sumed a  different  character  from  that  they  exhibited  above — 
The  soil,  near  the  river,  is  clay  &  the  Prairie  Bottoms  are 
extending  a  mile  from  it,  bounded  by  high  hills  well  covered 
with  timber,  &  shewing  very  many  beautiful  situations  for 
Farms  &  Buildings —  Anchored,  at  dark,  on  the  E.  shore, 
having  been  detained  considerably  today  in  getting  over 
Sand  bars  that  we  frequently,  inadvertantly,  run  on — - 
Caught  several  cat-fish,  Pickerel  &  Turtle. 

August  7th. 

Started,  at  4  A.M.,  Passed  on  the  East  shore  a  high  Prairie, 
for  the  distance  of  8  miles,  &  reached  the  "Fox"  village"  on 
the  West,  of  19  lodges,  where  we  stopped  a  few  minutes, 
and  traded  for  some  corn. 

^  John  W.  Johnson,  a  native  of  Maryland,  was  the  U.  S.  factor  with 
headquarters  at  Prairie  du  Chien.  The  factories  which  he  had  charge  of, 
says  Judge  Lockwood,  "were  estabhshed  by  an  Act  of  Congress  previous 
to  the  war  of  1812,  for  the  humane  purpose  of  preventing  the  British 
traders  from  extortions  on  the  Indians,  and  of  counteracting  British  in- 
fluence over  them,  which  they  exercised  through  the  traders."  From  the 
standpoint  of  the  Indians  it  would  doubtless  have  been  well  had  they  re- 
ceived equal  protection  from  the  American  traders,  who  were  accustomed 
to  pass  off  on  them  goods  much  inferior  to  those  of  British  make.  Johnson 
was  successively  justice  of  the  peace  at  Prairie  du  Chien  and  chief  justice 
of  the  county  court.  He  married  the  widow  of  Captain  George  Gooding, 
mentioned  in  note  38.  In  1832,  after  being  relieved  of  his  duties  as  factor, 
by  the  winding  up  of  the  factory  system  of  Indian  trade,  he  removed  with 
his  family  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  died  a  few  years  afterwards. 

"  The  Fox  village  was  near  the  site  of  the  present  town  of  Princeton, 
Scott  county,  Iowa.     (Coues,  p.  26,  n.  31.) 


46  Journal  of  S.  W.  Kearny. 

Five  miles  from  this  village  brought  us  to  the  head  of  the 
"Rapids  De  Roche,"  &  entering  them,  we  descended  with 
but  little  difficulty  only  striking  &  sticking  on  the  rocks 
three  times  (which  was  very  well,  considering  we  had  no 
Pilot)  &  reached  the  foot  of  them  at  1  P.M.,  they  being  about 
18  miles  long —  Four  miles  from  this  brought  us  to  Fort 
Armstrong,^*  at  the  lower  end  of  Rock  Island.  During  the 
day  we  were  much  opposed  by  strong  Head  winds,  &  a  severe 
rain,  which  increased  the  difficulty  of  navigation  thro'  the 
Rapids,  the  current  of  which  however  we  did  not  find  more 
than  5  nots  per  hour. 

Rock  Island,  about  2 J  miles  long,  &  1}  wide,  Hes  near  the 
E  or  Illinois  shore,  3J  miles  above  Stoney,  or  Rock  River,  & 
is  well  covered  with  timber  &  of  good  soil;  The  Fort  on  it 
was  built  in  1815,  &  is  a  neat  work,  with  3  block  houses,  & 
capable  of  resisting  any  attack  from  Indians.  It  forms  a 
part  of  the  chain  of  Posts  on  the  Mississippi,  (fc  is  eligible 
situated,  being  in  the  neighborhood  of  many  tribes,  &  the 
most  war  hke  &  powerful  on  the  river.  Twas  on  this  Island 
that  two  of  the  ''Winnebagos,"  in  the  month  of  April,  shot 
two  of  our  Soldiers.  The  murderers  having  been  demanded 
of  the  Chief  or  Principal  men  of  that  Tribe,  were  a  month 
since  brought  in  by  them  &  are  now  confined  in  the  Fort, 
with  a  ball  &  chain  attached  to  their  arms  &  legs —  When 
examined,  they  made  a  candid  confession  of  their  crime,  & 

•8  Fort  Armstrong  was  built  in  1816  and  named  in  honor  of  the  then 
Secretary  of  War.  A  post  there  was  needed  as  a  protection  against  the 
restless  Sac  and  Fox  Indians,  then  numbering  about  11,800  persons, 
living  in  villages  on  both  sides  of  the  river  near  the  island.  A  historical 
sketch  of  it  by  Mrs.  Maria  Peck  may  be  found  in  the  Annals  of  Iowa,  i,  3d 
Series,  p.  602.  A  good  description  of  the  works  is  given  by  Long  in  his  1817 
manuscript,  Minn.  Hist.  Colls.,  ii.  The  appearance  of  the  fort  on  the 
beautiful  wooded  island  was  highly  romantic.  Gov.  Ford  in  his  History  of 
Illinois  compares  "the  white-washed  walls  and  tower  of  the  fort  perched 
upon  a  high  cHff,  as  seen  from  a  distance,  to  one  of  those  enchanted 
castles  in  an  uninhabited  desert,  so  graphically  described  in  the  Arabian 
Nights."  Col.  Morgan  of  Kearny's  party  had  been  the  commanding 
officer  at  the  post  in  1816  and  1817.  After  the  Black  Hawk  War  the  fort 
was  abandoned.  Since  then  an  ordnance  post  has  occupied  the  island 
(Rock  Island  Arsenal)  and  is  to-day  one  of  the  most  important  manufac- 
turing arsenals  in  the  coimtry. 


The  Council  Bluff— St.  Peter's  Exploration  {1820.)      47 

only  demanded  immediate  death —  I  visited  these  fellows, 
&  found  one  of  them  in  consequence  of  confinement  much  in- 
disposed.— 

Av^uBt  8th.  Bancroft  Librw, 

In  the  afternoon,  in  company  with  Lieut.  Col  M.  &  Lt.  P., 
crossed  over  to  the  "Fox  Village"  of  30  lodges;  It  is  on  the 
E.  shore,  opposite  the  Fort,  &  about  300  yards  distant —  We 
obtained  horses,  saddles  &  bridles,  from  the  Indians,  &  rode 
to  the  "Rock  River,"  4  miles  from  its  mouth  &  distant  from 
the  Fort  about  3  miles — we  passed  over  a  very  handsome 
country,  having  on  our  right  an  extensive  rich  Prairie,  reach- 
ing to  the  Mississippi,  &  on  our  left,  a  gentle  hill,  well  cov- 
ered with  corn,  beans,  &c.,  &c.  &  thickly  settled — on  the 
Rock  river  we  found  the  Principal  village  of  the  Sac  Na- 
tions^^ —  They  can  here  muster  1,000  warriors,  &  they  are 
considered  the  most  efficient  of  any  of  the  Indian  warriors, 
being  better  armed,  mounted,  &  equipped.  We  found  them 
at  a  Feast,  of  which  Col.  M.  participated,  the  heat  prevented 
me  from  attending.  Saw,  in  front  of  one  of  the  chiefs  lodges, 
some  scalps,  which  have  lately  been  taken  from  the  'SSioux," 
the  Sacs  having  surprised  &  murdered  a  party  of  that  Tribe, 
consisting  of  3  old  men,  3  women,  &  3  children.  These  two 
nations  are  now  determined  to  go  to  War,  &  most  probably 
some  bloody  battles  will  be  fought,  'ere  their  difference  is 
accommodated.  We  returned  to  the  Fort  at  sundown.  The 
day  has  been  excessively  hot  &  oppressive —  Mercury  at 
96  in  the  shade. 

5^  This  Sac  village,  according  to  Major  Long  (1817),  was  by  far  the  largest 
Indian  village  along  the  Mississippi  between  St.  Louis  and  the  Falls  of  St. 
Anthony.  Its  Indian  name  was  Makataimeshekiakiak,  translated  Black 
Sparrow  Hawk,  which  became  contracted  into  "Black  Hawk."  It  con- 
tained about  100  cabins  and  had  a  populati  on  of  between  2000  and  3000.  It 
could  furnish  over  800  warriors  all  armed  with  rifles  or  fusees.  The  famous 
Black  Hawk  was  the  leading  chief  here  at  this  time.  Both  the  Sacs  and 
the  Foxes  cultivated  vast  fields  of  corn  in  this  region.  These  tribes,  whose 
names  are  usually  linked  together,  were  allies  in  war  but  otherwise  had  only 
a  nominal  connection.  The  Sacs,  who  outnumbered  the  Foxes,  dwelt  on 
the  East  side  of  the  river,  and  the  Foxes  on  the  West. 


48  Journal  of  S.  W.  Kearny. 

August  9th. 

Six  chiefs**'  of  the  "Sacs  &  Foxes"  dined  with  us,  at  Maj. 
Marston's,"  the  commandant  of  the  Fort,  &  shewed  by  their 
manners  &  conduct  that  poHteness  is  not  confined  exclusively 
to  the  Whites.  They  ate  &  drank  agreeably  to  our  customs, 
&  tho'  not  much  used  to  a  knife  &  fork,  or  a  wineglass,  they 
displayed  not  the  least  awkwardness  in  the  managing  of 
either. 

We  had  intended  leaving  here  today,  but  the  oppressive 
heat  thro'out  (the  mercury  being  at  97)  prevented  us. 

August  10th. 

Having  purchased,  for  Six  bottles  of  whiskey,  a  Canoe,  25 
feet  long,  &  2  broad,  we  left  '^Rock  Island,"  at  6  A.M.  our 
party  being  now  reduced  to  Lieut.  Col.  Morgan,  Lieut.  Pent- 
land,  myself  &  two  waiters,  one  belonging  to  the  Col,  the  other 
my  own,  &  each  of  us  seated  on  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  with 
a  paddle  in  hand  to  work  with. 

Passed  ''Rock  River"  on  the  East,  a  handsome  &  extensive 
low  Prairie  on  the  West; — a  small  river,  called  ''Pine  Creek." 
In  the  afternoon,  reached  "Prairie  Island,"  near  the  W. 
shore,  which  we  found  10  miles  long,  &  encamped  at 
sundown,  a  few  miles  below  the  extremity  of  it. — made 
today  45  miles. — 

^°  Black  Hawk  was  one  of  the  number  in  all  likelihood. 

"  Morrill  Marston,  a  native  of  N.  H.,  entered  the  army  from  Mass. 
as  1st  lieutenant  in  the  21st  Infantry,  12  March,  1812;  promoted  to  captain 
26  June,  1813;  transferred  to  5th  Infantry  17  May,  1815;  received  brevet  of 
major  15  August,  1814,  for  distinguished  service  in  defence  of  Fort  Erie; 
dismissed  27  September,  1824;  died  9  March,  1831.  (Heitman.)  After 
his  service  at  Fort  Armstrong  he  was  commanding  officer  at  Fort  Edwards, 
further  down  the  river,  where  one  of  his  duties  seems  to  have  been  to  stop 
and  search  all  boats  ascending  the  river  to  the  Indian  country  to  ascertain 
whether  or  not  they  were  carrying  whisky,  a  contraband  article  in  the 
Indian  trade.  Dr.  Meeker  recounts  that  on  a  trip  up  the  river  his  party 
was  brought  to  by  a  shot  from  the  fort  across  the  bow  of  his  boat.  Mars- 
ton,  when  he  found  they  had  liquor  aboard,  threatened  to  confiscate  it. 
On  the  assurance  that  it  was  to  be  used  by  Meeker's  own  men  at  the  lead 
mines  he  relented,  and,  says  Meeker,  "as  was  the  custom  of  the  day,  the 
brandy  soothed  all  difficulties."  ("Early  History  of  the  Lead  Region", 
by  Dr.  Moses  Meeker,  Wis.  Hist.  Colls.,  vi.,  pp.  278-9.) 


The  Council  Bluff— St.  Peter's  Exploration  {1820.)      49 

August  \lth. 

Rose  at  the  first  dawn  of  day,  &  as  we  had  all  been  much 
tormented  with  the  mosquitoes  since  our  landing,  we  started 
without  delay —  Passed  the  Ayauwa^^  river  on  the  W,  & 
shortly  afterwards  stopped  to  breakfast.  After  which  the 
wind  being  somewhat  favorable,  we  hoisted  sail,  but  had  not 
proceded  3  miles,  when  it  died  away,  &  the  Sun  shone  out  so 
intensely  hot,  'that  notwithstanding  our  being  considerably 
hardened  &  our  anxiety  to  move  on,  we  were  obHdged  to 
stop  til  about  3  P.M.  when  we  again  started,  &  continued  our 
course  'til  dark — 40  miles. 

August  12th. 

We  were  off  again  at  day  break,  Passed  ''Pole  cat  river" 
on  the  W.  some  Traders  house,  a  short  distance  below,  & 
immediately  afterwards  Flint  Hill  (so  called,  from  its  compo- 
sition), which  we  found  6  miles  long  &  about  100  feet  high. 
Stopped  at  old  "  Fort  Madison,"®^  on  the  W.  shore,  where  are  the 
remains  of  nine  chimneys,  &  some  Pickets,  &  scattering  stones; 
that  indicate  a  military  work  once  existed  here.  Reached  the 
'^Des  Moines  Rapids"  at  sundown,  &  descended,  occasionally 
striking  on  a  Rock,  tho'  sustaining  no  injury,  passed  two 
boats,  with  provisions,  for  ''Prairie  Du  Chien,"  &  arrived 
at  "Fort  Edwards"  at  12  at  night,  having  made  65  miles. 

^2  "Ayauwa"  is  one  of  the  multitudinous  early  variations  of  the  name 
Iowa.  Nineteen  of  them  are  cited  by  Coues  in  his  Pike 's  Expedition  (p.  22) 
and  he  includes  neither  Kearny's  rendering  or  the  favorite  "loway  "  of  the 
early  frontiersmen.  Among  the  most  nearly  unrecognizable  are  "  Aaiaoua  " 
and  *'Aiavvi",  although  "Ajoe"  and  "Yahowa"  are  pretty  well  masked. 
See  also  Lewis  and  Clark,  ed.  1893,  p.  20. 

^3  Fort  Madison  was  built  in  1808,  according  to  the  best  authority,  by 
Zachary  Taylor,  then  a  1st  Lieut,  in  the  7th  Infantry.  (Coues.)  The 
post  was  attacked  by  Indians  twice  in  1813.  In  November  of  that  year  it 
was  evacuated  and  burned  on  account  of  the  failure  of  the  garrison  to  re- 
ceive needed  provisions.  The  ruins  were  visited  by  Long  in  1817,  who 
found  "nothing  but  old  chimneys  left  standing,  and  a  covert  way  leading 
from  the  main  garrison  to  higher  ground  in  the  rear,  where  there  was  some 
kind  of  outwork.  In  the  old  garden  were  found  peach,  nectarine  and  apple 
trees."  The  present  city  of  Fort  Madison,  the  seat  of  Lee  county,  Iowa, 
and  which  occupies  the  old  site,  grew  up  in  later  years. 


50  Journal  of  S.  W.  Kearny. 

August  ISth.    Sunday. 

Fort  Edwards,®^  on  the  E.  or  Illinois  shore,  about  1  mile 
above  the  Des  Moines  River  &  3  below  the  Rapids,  is  in  Lat 
40°  21'  N.  'Tis  a  small  square  work,  with  2  block  houses,  & 
capable  of  containing  a  company  of  soldiers —  Built  in  1815 
on  a  high  commanding  eminence,  &  surrounded  by  a  rich  & 
handsome  country. 

This  Post  was  abandoned  18  months  since,  but  in  conse- 
quence of  the  murder  of  the  2  soldiers  at  Rock  Island,  by  the 
Indians,  &  the  representations  made  by  the  Factor,  of  the 
hostihty  of  the  neighboring  Tribes,  a  Lieut,  with  20  men 
were  sent  here  in  May  last. 

August  14:th. 

In  company  with  the  Sub  agent,  visited  the  Sac  village,  a 
mile  below  the  Fort,  &  on  the  Borders  of  the  river.  They 
here  count  about  100  Warriors.  Purchased  some  sweet  corn 
from  the  chief's  squaw,  &  after  looking  at  their  lodges,  13  in 
number,  their  cornfields,  &c.,  &c.  returned  to  the  Fort,  &  on 
my  way  passed  the  remains  of  the  Cantonment®^  where  the 
8th  Infy.  were  quartered  in  1815  &  '16. 

August  15th. 

At  8  A.M.  we  embarked  on  board  our  canoe,  &  descended 
one  mile,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Des  Moines,  where  we  found  the 

"  Fort  Edwards,  nearly  opposite  the  mouth  of  th^  Des  Moines  River,  was 
begun  in  June  1816,  the  labor  being  done  by  soldiers,  and  was  not  quite 
completed  when  visited  by  Long  in  1817.  He  described  it  as  "a  palisade 
work  constructed  entirely  of  square  timber.  It  is  intended  to  contain 
two  block  houses,  situated  in  the  alternate  angles  of  the  Fort;  a  magazine 
of  stone;  barracks  for  the  accommodation  of  one  company  of  soldiers;  offi- 
cer's quarters;  hospital,  storerooms,  etc."  The  troops  could  not  have 
remained  there  very  long  for  Kearny  says  the  post  was  abandoned  18 
months  prior  to  his  visit.  Major  Forsyth  in  1819  found  living  in  the  eva- 
cuated fort  some  families  who  were  entitled  to  land  for  services  rendered 
during  the  War  of  1812.  On  account  of  the  insults  offered  them  by  drunken 
Indians  in  the  neighborhood.  Major  Forsyth  recommended  to  Gov.  Clark 
that  half  a  company  of  soldiers  under  a  subaltern  be  stationed  there.  The 
suggestion  seems  to  have  been  followed,  as  Kearny's  next  entry  shows. 

^^  Cantonment  Edwards,  to  which  Kearny  refers,  was  the  precursor  of 
Fort  Edwards.  It  was  half  a  mile  s.  w.  from  the  fort  and  was  abandoned 
when  the  new  works  were  completed. 


The  Council  Bluff— St.  Peter's  Exploration  {1820.)      51 

Steam  Boat,  ''Western  Engineer/'*'®  commanded  by  Lieut. 
Graham,"  who  came  here  a  week  since,  for  the  purpose  of 
taking  observations,  &c.  Put  our  baggage  on  board,  & 
fastened  the  canoe  to  her.  Near  this  saw  a  coffin  containing 
the  bones  of  an  Indian  tied  fast  to  the  centre  of  a  large  tree 
which  was  done  at  the  request  of  the  deceased  to  preserve  his 
fame  after  the  extinction  of  his  body. 

Proceded  at  10  &  run  about  15  miles  when  about  1  P.M. 
we  found  ourselves  on  the  Sand  bar  &  from  which  we  en- 
deavored, but  without  success,  to  extricate  ourselves.  The 
boat  has  but  few  hands  &  those  sick  with  fevers. 

August  l^ih. 

At  8  A.M.  we  succeeded  after  much  exertion  in  getting  off 
the  Sandbar  &  in  endeavoring  to  cross  to  the  opposite  shore 
to  reach  the  channel,  we  ran  on  another  bar  about  200  yards 
from  the  one  we  left,  &  found  ourselves  even  faster  than  be- 
fore.^^ 

At  2  P.M.,  aware  of  the  uncertainty  of  the  Steam  Boat 
reaching  St.  Louis,  and  our  party  being  desirous  to  proceed 
without  loss  of  time  we  took  to  our  canoe,  &  having  a  favor- 
able breeze  hoisted  sail. 

^  Steamboat  "Western  Engineer."     See  note  12. 

^''  James  Duncan  Graham,  born  1799  in  Virginia,  was  appointed  cadet, 
U.  S.  Military  Academy,  19  June,  1813;  promoted  to  3d  lieutenant,  Artillery 
Corps,  17  July,  1817;  2d  lieutenant,  14  October  1817;  1st  lieutenant,  8 
September  1819;  transferred  to  4th  Artillery,  1  June  1821;  to  3d  Artillery, 
16  August  1821;  brevet  captain.  Topographical  Engineers,  15  January  1829; 
brevet  major,  14  September  1834;  major,  7  July,  1838;  brevet  lieutenant- 
colonel,  1  January  1847,  for  valuable  and  highly  distinguished  services, 
particularly  on  the  boundary  line  between  the  U.  S.  and  Canada;  lieutenant- 
colonel,  6  August,  1861,  and  Corps  of  Engineers,  3  March,  1863;  colonel,  1 
June,  1863;  died  at  Boston,  28  December,  1865.  Graham's  service  as  an 
army  engineer  was  of  the  highest  order.  Some  of  his  most  conspicuous 
work  was  in  connection  with  the  settlement  of  international  boundary  dis- 
putes. He  was  a  member  of  several  U.  S.  boundary  commissions.  (Cullom's 
Biog.  Reg.  etc.,  U.S.  M.  A.) 

^*  These  particular  sand-bars  were  a  source  of  frequent  trouble  to  naviga- 
tors. Pike's  70-foot  keel-boat  got  shoaled  at  about  the  same  place  on  his 
voyage  up  the  river  in  1805.  A  good  deal  of  engineering  work  was  done 
there  in  after  years. 


52  Journal  of  S.W.  Kearny. 

Two  miles  below  stopped  at  a  settlement*®  (the  first  we 
have  seen  since  leaving  Prairie  Du  Chien)  &  engaged  Four 
Men  to  assist  the  Steam  Boat  from  her  present  situation. 
Passed  the  ''Wakendaw  River"  on  the  West  at  which  point 
we  saw  large  flocks  of  Turkeys — after  which  reached  ''The 
Two  Rivers,"'®  so  called  from  the  circumstance  of  their 
entering  the  Mississippi  100  yards  apart.  Stopped  her&  and 
took  some  coffee,  when  we  re-embarked,  and  it  being  after 
dark,  passed  ''Hannibal,"  without  seeing  it,  and  at  12  at 
night  landed  and  laid  down  to  sleep,  all  of  us  being  quite 
weary  and  tired. 

August  17th. 

Proceded  at  6  A.M;  and  shortly  met  a  boat  ascending  the 
river  which  we  boarded;  found  her  destined  for  Fort  Ed- 
wards. The  Factor  and  some  officers  and  Ladies  on  board- 
Passed  Salt  River  on  the  left,  &  landed  a  short  distance 
below  at  "Louisianna,"  apparently  a  thriving  place  and  the 
capital  County  Town  of  Pike  County.  The  Inhabitants  we 
found  mostly  sick  with  fevers,  &  a  keel  boat  being  about 
starting  for  St.  Louis  we  determined  to  take  a  passage  on 
board.  This  boat  is  freighted  with  furs,  and  worked  by  six 
Frenchmen,  commanded  by  a  young  American,  whom  the 
former  pay  no  regard  nor  respect  to.  Passed  "Clarksville" 
on  the  West;  at  dark  all  on  board  went  to  sleep  leaving  the 
boat  to  drift  at  will,  not  however  'til  a  watch  of  two 
had  been  detailed,  whose  duty  I  found  consisted  in  sleeping 
more  soundly  than  the  others,  the  bow  and  stern  being 
appropriated  to  them. 

®*  The  settlement  was  probably  Wyaconda  or  Waconda,  so-called  from 
the  river  of  that  name,  which  Keamy  gives  as  the  "  Wakendaw  River. " 
The  place  is  now  La  Grange,  Lewis  County,  Missouri,  a  little  above  Quincy, 
Illinois. 

70  "Two  Rivers "  was  a  couple  of  miles  above  a  spot  that  became  the  site 
of  a  "paper  town"  that  rejoiced  in  the  name  of  "Marion  City",  so  Coues 
tells  us.  Streets  and  lots  galore  were  laid  out  to  accommodate  a  great  popu- 
lation, which  however  failed  to  take  advantage  of  the  opportunity.  The 
place  is  supposed  to  have  inspired  Charles  Dickens  with  the  idea  of  "  Eden  ", 
the  immortal  boom  town  in  "  Martin  Chuzzlewit.  " 


The  Council  Bluff— St.  Peter's  Exploration  {1820.)      53 

August  ISth. 

On  awaking  in  the  morning  we  found  we  had  progressed 
but  slowly  during  the  night,  not  having  made  more  than  4 
or  5  miles. 

In  the  morning  passed  by  ''Quiver'"^  on  the  West  and  at 
noon  reached  'Xapo  Gray/''^  At  this  point  the  river  is 
quite  narrow,  not  more  than  300  yards  wide.  On  the  West 
side  are  the  remains  of  old  ''Fort  Independence,"'^  erected 
during  the  late  war  for  the  protection  of  the  Frontier  Inhabi- 
tants. 12  miles  brought  us  to  ''Little  Capo  Gray"  where 
we  saw  several  settlements,  &  it  being  dark  all  hands  retired 
to  rest,  the  same  ceremony  of  the  appointment  of  watch  hav- 
ing been  gone  thro'  as  the  night  previous. 

August  19th. 

At  day  break  passed  the  "Illinois  River"  on  the  East.  A 
short  distance  below  this  commences  a  ridge  of  Rocks  (about 
1200  feet  high,  very  irregular,  and  forming  the  most  antic 
appearances  that  can  possibly  be  imagined),  which  con- 
tinues as  low  as  "Portage  De  Sioux,"  the  shore  on  the  west 
being  low  and  sandy.  This  Town  is  prettily  situated  &  is 
not  more  than  2  miles  to  the  nearest  point  of  the  Missouri, 

'^  Not  "Quiver",  but  Cuivre,  the  French  word  meaning  copper,  was  and 
still  is  the  name  of  the  large  stream  and  island  observed  by  Kearny.  Many 
travelers,  including  Lewis  and  Clark,  have  fallen  into  the  same  phonetic 
trap.  It  was  known  also  in  early  days  as  "  Riviere  aux  Boeufs  ",  or  Buffalo 
River.  Pike  called  it  that.  The  stream  comes  into  the  Mississippi  as  the 
dividing  line  between  Lincoln  and  St.  Charles  Counties,  Missouri. 

"  "Capo  Gray"  should  be  Cap  au  Ores.  This  is  another  French  term  that 
lent  itself  to  conversion  by  Americans  into  an  English  phrase  of  similar  sound 
but  different  meaning.  Even  the  French  fell  into  the  habit  of  rendering 
the  name  "Cap  au  Gris",  mistaking  gres,  a  noun,  meaning  sandstone,  for 
the  adjective  gris,  meaning  gray.  It  was  also  called  "Cap  au  Gr^,"an 
obvious  error.  Similar  corruptions  of  early  French  terms  in  this  region 
might  be  instanced.  "  Vide  Poche' '  (empty  pocket)  an  ancient  name 
given  the  village  of  Carondelet  (now  a  part  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis)  became 
anglicized  in  many  mouths  into  "wheat  bush." 

""Fort  Independence"  was  one  of  the  many  temporary  stockades 
erected  in  St.  Charles  County  during  the  war  of  1812.  It  is  probably  the 
same  defence  that  is  mentioned  by  Shaw  under  the  name  "Fort  Cap 
auGr6." 


54  Journal  of  S.  }f .  Keqrny, 

being  8  above  its  mouth.  Finding  our  progress  to  be  but  slow 
we  left  the  Keel  Boat  and  again  taking  to  our  canoe  passed 
the  Town  of  ''Alton/'  on  the  Illinois  side,  having  a  large 
Sandbar  in  front  of  it;  3  miles  further  brought  us  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Missouri,  which  we  welcomed  most  cordially  as  an  old 
acquaintance,  and  at  5  P.M.  reached  St.  Louis  having  come 
down  the  Mississippi  from  the  St.  Peters,  a  distance  of  900 
miles. 


V  ^   '       Caylord  Bros. 
j  Maker* 

I     Syracuse»N.  Y. 
I.2M80» 


■^^.^•■\-'«^^ 


